m 


ing.  Christianity  itself,  I  believe,  owes  by  far  the 
greater  part  of  its  moral  power,  not  to  the  precepts 
and  parables  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  to  his  own  char- 
acter. The  beauty  of  that  holiness  which  is 
enshrined  in  the  four  biographies  of  the  Man  of 
Nazareth,  has  done  more,  and  will  do  more  to  re- 
generate the  world,  than  all  other  agencies  put 
together.  It  has  done  more  to  spread  his  religion 
in  the  world,  than  all  that  has  ever  been  preached 
or  written  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity.-— 
Chalmers. 


,       UCY  1    1920 


Division!  'SS 
Section 


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0.nfmcir, 


^^ 


i       GOT   1  •  1920 


A 


^lMm^0^ 


HISTORY    OF   JESUS 


W.    H.    FURNESS 


A    NEW    EDITION 


WITH    AN     INTRODUCTION    AND    NOTES. 


BOSTON: 
CROSBY,    NICHOLS,    AND    COMPANY. 

NEW    YORK: 
CHARLES    S.    FRANCIS    AND    COMPANY. 

1853. 


Entered,  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1850,  by 

W.    H.    FURNESS, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the 

Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  Life  of  Jesus  Christ  is  cardinal  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  Misapprehended  and  im- 
perfectly understood  as  it  has  been,  nevertheless, 
to  say  that  it  is  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  is 
only  stating  an  historical  fact.  Rightly  taken,  it 
changes  our  whole  view  of  things,  our  whole 
theory  of  life  and  nature. 

But  the  question  is  continually  coming  up, 
How  do  we  know  that  what  is  told  of  him  is  true  ? 
We  have,  indeed,  four  diiferent  accounts,  which 
-profess  to  give  us  many  particulars  of  his  life,  his 
most  important  words  and  works.  But  how  do 
we  know  that  these  accounts  were  written  by  the 
persons  whose  names  they  bear  ?  Or,  if  they 
were  written  by  them,  how  do  we  know  that  these 


IV  INTRODUCTION. 

writers  were  not  deluded  or  deceiving  ?  Or,  if 
these  accounts  were  true,  as  originally  written, 
how  do  we  know  that  they  have  not  been  inter- 
polated with  all  manner  of  fictions  ? 

In  answer  to  all  such  questions,  I  say,  that, 
admitting  that  we  cannot  tell  when  these  ac- 
counts were  written,  or  by  whom  they  were 
written,  or  through  what  ignorant  or  designing 
hands  they  may  have  passed,  it  by  no  means 
follows  that  they  must  be  fables.  Although  we 
may  be  wholly  ignorant  of  their  origin  and 
history,  they  may,  nevertheless,  be  true  in  part, 
nay,  they  may  be  true  in  the  main.  Carry  a 
diamond  to  a  lapidary,  and,  although  he  knows 
not  you,  nor  whence  it  came,  even  should  you 
tell  him  the  most  improbable  stories  about  its 
history,  and  declare  that  it  was  found  where 
never  diamond  was  found  before,  still  he  can  tell 
whether  it  be  a  diamond  or  not.  So  it  is  pre- 
cisely with  the  Records  of  the  Life  of  Jesus.  Let 
it  be  that  we  are  whoUy  in  the  dark  as  to  their 
origin  and  fortunes.  Still  here  they  are.  Now, 
as  certainly  as  a  diamond  can  be  distinguished 
from  a  common  pebble,  it  may  be  determined. 


INTRODUCTION.  V 

and  it  wdll  be  sooner  or  later,  by  a  thorough  and 
critical  study  of  the  books  themselves,  what  they 
really  are,  whether  they  be  true  or  fabulous,  or, 
if  they  are  a  mixture  of  truth  and  fable,  to  what 
extent  they  are  so.  All  these  points  will  one 
day  or  another  be  decided  by  an  honest,  fear- 
less, and  enlightened  criticism  of  the  books 
themselves ;  or  man  has  no  power  to  distin- 
guish what  is  true  from  what  is  false.  But 
he  has  this  power.  Deny  it  to  him  and  you 
divest  him  of  his  intelligent  nature,  and  render 
the  communication  of  truth  to  him,  whether  by 
man,  by  angel,  or  by  God,  an  absolute  impos- 
sibility. I  do  not  say  that  the  faculty  of  dis- 
tinguishing the  true  from  the  false  acts  always 
instantaneously  and  unerringly.  It  will  require 
high  and  long  training,  and  the  utmost  single- 
ness of  heart,  and  an  acquaintance  with  subtile 
principles  of  thought  and  expression,  and  the 
profoundest  insight,  before  we  can  separate  with 
any  exactness  the  true  from  the  fabulous  when 
they  are  mixed  together. 

In  the  present  work  I  have  attempted,  from  a 
careful  study  of  the  Records,  to  present  the  story 


Vi  INTEODUCTION. 

of  the  Life  of  Jesus  in  such  a  form  as  is  con- 
sistent with  itself  and  with  all  else  that  we  know 
of  human  nature  and  human  history.  The  at- 
tempt is  of  course  a  very  imperfect  one.  I  have 
not  made  use  of  all  the  contents  of  the  four 
Gospels.  Yet  I  would  not  intimate  that  I  con- 
sider those  portions  of  them  which  I  have  left 
untouched  as  erroneous  or  fabulous.  There  may 
be  more  truth  in  these  accounts  than  I  have  as 
yet  been  able,  from  an  exclusive  consideration 
of  their  internal  character,  to  discern.  I  have 
used  only  some  of  the  facts  furnished  by  the 
Records  that  admit  of  being  so  explained  by  all 
the  known  and  probable  circumstances  of  the 
case  as  to  present  a  History  of  Jesus,  self-con- 
sistent and  in  harmony  with  the  truth  of  things. 
Considering  now  how  writers  of  great  erudi- 
tion and  acuteness  are  maintaining  that  the  ac- 
counts of  Christ  are  mere  collections  of  myths, 
it  is  interesting  to  find  how  even  such  imper- 
fect attempts  as  I  have  made  to  ascertain  the 
truth  of  the  Gospels  from  their  internal  char- 
acter result  in  substantiating  the  main  facts  of 
these  histories.      In  answer  to  those  who   pro- 


INTRODUCTION.  VU 

nounce  the  New  Testament  history  fabulous, 
it  is  abundantly  sufficient  to  show  that  from  it 
may  be  gathered  a  narrative  consistent  in  itself 
and  with  all  else  that  we  know.  So  far  as  this 
is  shown,  the  presence  of  truth  is  demonstrat- 
ed. All  things  that  are,  all  true  things,  being 
the  work  of  God,  are  related  each  to  all  and 
all  to  each,  bound  together  in  an  all-pervading 
harmony.  There  is  not  room  to  interpolate 
the  slightest  fiction  into  the  universe  of  being. 
Let  man  produce  his  fables  and  assert  their 
truth  never  so  earnestly,  yet  they  will  be  contra- 
dicted and  betrayed  at  a  thousand  points.  They 
will  not  accord  with  what  actually  is.  A  tangled 
tissue,  they  cannot  be  woven  into  the  web  of  re- 
ality. Whereas  Truth  is  always  one  with  Truth. 
Omne  verum  vero  consonat. 

It  is  thought,  I  am  aware,  that  I  treat  the 
New  Testament  histories  altogether  too  freely, 
that  I  look  at  them  from  a  low  point  of  view. 
Granting  it  to  be  so,  still  to  all  lovers  of  Chris- 
tianity, to  all  who  wish  it  to  be  true,  it  must 
afford  some  satisfaction  to  find,  that,  even  when 
thus  freely  handled,  when  thus  regarded  from 


VUl  INTR0DUCTI0J7. 

what  is  considered  a  low  point  of  view,  the 
Gospels  are  proved  to  be  true,  —  true  not  here 
and  there,  but  substantially,  in  all  their  main 
facts,  —  so  little  alloyed  with  error.  Studied  as  I 
have  endeavored  to  study  them,  they  present  be- 
fore us  no  vague  and  visionary  being,  but  a  real, 
living,  breathing  man,  the  man  of  Nazareth. 
And  what  a  man  is  here!  Fearless  in  inno- 
cence. Godlilie  in  truth  and  love.  How  grand 
and  yet  how  simple  !  A  man  fully  inspired.  A 
revelation  at  once  of  God  and  of  the  highest  in 
man. 

Philadelphia,  April  27,  1853. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
9—35. 

THE  JEWS  —  THE  DESIGN  OF  THIS  BOOK  —  THE  BIRTH 
OP  JESUS  —  HIS  MOTHER  —  HIS  CHILDHOOD  —  HIS 
GIFTS. 

CHAPTER  II. 
36 --54. 

THE  SELF-CONSECRATION  OF  JESUS — ITS  REVELATIONS 
AND   ITS   TRIALS. 

CHAPTER   III. 
55  —  76. 

MANNER  OF  TEACHING — SUBJECTS  OF  TEACHING  — 
FIRST  APPEARANCE  IN  PUBLIC  —  THE  SENSATION 
PRODUCED  —  CAPERNAUM  —  NAZARETH. 

(5) 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   IV. 
77  —  103. 

SERMON  ON  THE  MOUNT  —  PARABLES  —  PROPHETIC 
GIFT INCIDENTS  —  SCRIBES   AND   PHARISEES. 

CHAPTER  V. 
104  —  138. 

THE  SABBATH  —  THE  PENITENT  WOMAN  —  A  SIGN  — 
PHARISEES  BLASPHEME — BREAD  OE  HEAVEN  —  VISIT 
TO  JERUSALEM THE  TEMPLE  —  NICODEMUS  —  SA- 
MARITAN  WOMAN  —  THE   NATIONAL   FESTIVALS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
139  —  166. 

THE  PERSONAL  DISCIPLES  OP  JESUS  —  THEIR  ATTACH- 
MENT TO  HIM  —  Peter's  avowal  of  faith  —  the 

DREAM    OF    peter  —  THE    CURE    OF    A    LUNATIC 

the  DISPUTES   OF   THE   DISCIPLES. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

167  —  202. 

JESUS  PASSES  THROUGH  SAMARIA  —  CHILDREN  —  THE 
RICH  YOUTH  —  THE  HOPES  OF  THE  DISCIPLES  — 
JERICHO  —  THE  BLIND  MAN  —  ZACCHEUS  —  THE 
KINGDOM   OF   HEAVEN  —  LAZARUS. 


CONTENTS.  VU 

CHAPTEK  VIII. 

203—237. 

A  COUNCIL  OP  THE  PRIESTS  —  JESUS  AT  BETHANY  — 
MARY  —  PUBLIC  ENTRANCE  INTO  JERUSALEM  — 
GREEKS  —  PHARISEES  —  THE  LAST  SUPPER  —  JUDAS 
—  CONSOLATIONS  —  PRAYER. 

CHAPTER   IX. 

238  —  265. 

THE  GARDEN  —  THE  HOUR  OE  DARKNESS  —  THE  AR- 
REST—  THE  HIGH  PRIEST  —  PETER — THE  TRIAL  — 
HEROD  —  PILATE  —  CRUCIFIXION  —  DEATH. 


CHAPTER  X. 

266  —  291. 

JESUS    DESTROYED    BY    A    FACTION  —  STARTLING   CIR- 
CUMSTANCES ATTENDING  HIS  DEATH APPARITIONS 

THE  BODY  TAKEN  DOWN   FROM    THE  CROSS THE 

BURIAL THE     GUARD DISCIPLES     DISCONSOLATE 

RESURRECTION THE    WOMEN    AT    THE    TOMB 

REAPPEARANCE     TO     MARY  —  TESTIMONY    IRRESIST- 
IBLE —  CONCLUSION. 


HISTORY  OF  JESUS 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  JEWS  —  THE  DESIGN  OP  THIS  BOOK  —  THE  BIRTH 
OF  JESUS  —  HIS  MOTHER  —  HIS  CHILDHOOD  —  HIS 
GIFTS. 

The  Hebrew  race  is  a  great  race.  With  no  civil 
order,  no  country,  its  remnants  have  been  scattered 
now  for  centuries  over  the  world,  maintaining  a 
national  existence  without  any  national  institutions. 
What  a  vitality  does  this  fact  disclose !  Such  a 
tenacity  of  life  belongs  only  to  the  mightiest  ele- 
ment of  our  nature,  religion. 

If  we  had  no  direct  knowledge  of  the  forefathers 
of  a  people,  who  have  so  wonderfully  survived 
changes  which,  in  all  other  cases,  annihilate  nations, 
we  might  safely  infer  that  their  progenitors  were  no 
ordinary  men.     A  people,  whose  character  is  so 

(9) 


10  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

powerfully  marked,  could  have  come  from  no  com- 
mon lineage. 

But  we  do  know  something  of  the  origin  of  this 
race.  They  have  a  great  history ;  a  history  which 
has  published  itself  to  the  world.  They  trace  their 
origin  and  their  fortunes  to  world-renowned  patri- 
archs, whose  forms  we  may  descry,  standing  out  in 
colossal  majesty  amidst  the  darkness  of  the  past. 
They  look  back  with  unwavering  faith  to  one  illus- 
trious leader  in  particular,  who,  thousands  of  years 
ago,  when  the  nation  was  in  the  most  abject  bond- 
age, appeared  as  the  deliverer  of  his  people,  lead- 
ing them  from  the  land  in  which  they  groaned  as 
slaves  to  a  fertile  country,  where  they  grew  to 
great  power.  This  personage  was  a  true  king  by 
the  grace  of  God,  qualified  by  nature  to  be  the 
founder  of  an  empire.  Wonderful  traditions  exist 
concerning  him.  But  his  greatness  lay  chiefly  in 
the  simplicity  and  energy  of  his  religious  faith.  In 
an  age  when  rude  images  of  wood  and  stone  were 
everywhere  regarded  as  sufficient  symbols  of  the 
unseen  objects  of  human  worship,  the  founder  of 
the  Israelitish  State  had  apprehensions  of  the  One 
Invisible  so  pure,  that  he  sacredly  forbade  his 
people  to  make  any  image  whatever  of  God.  Nu- 
merous laws  are  attributed  to  him ;  but,  as  a  law- 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  11 

giver,  lie  is  immortalized  by  "  The  Ten  Command- 
ments," enjoining  those  simple  personal  and  social 
duties,  which  are  also  enforced  by  the  universal 
sense  of  mankind.  He  was  succeeded  by  other 
ruling  men, — priests,  kings  and  prophets, — an  illus- 
trious line,  through  whom  the  spirit  of  the  national 
religion  was  transmitted. 

The  fortunes  of  this  people  have  been  various. 
Oftentimes  they  were  engaged  in  bloody  wars. 
Sometimes,  led  away  by  the  imposing  rites  of  other 
religions,  they  deserted  their  own  more  simple  faith. 
Then  appeared  among  them,  like  stern  messengers 
from  another  world,  individuals  overflowing  with 
the  mighty  power  of  ancient  truth,  who,  in  speech 
flaming  with  the  grandest  imagery,  rebuked  the  sins 
of  the  people,  and  called  them  back  to  the  One  God 
of  their  fathers,  who  required  of  them,  above  all 
ceremonies,  the  practice  of  justice  and  humanity. 
These  men,  persecuted  at  first,  came  to  be  revered 
in  the  character  which  they  claimed,  as  heaven-sent 
messengers,  moved  by  a  divine  inspiration.  And 
no  one  can  now  read  the  record  of  their  words, 
without  perceiving  that  they  were  in  communication 
with  Truth  and  Power.  They  had  a  vision  of  those 
eternal  principles,  which  to  discern  is  to  see  and 
know  God,  so  far  as  God  can  be  known  to  man. 


12  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

Among  the  great  men  of  this  nation,  there  was  one 
prince,  who,  though  by  no  means  stainless,  was  vet 
inspired  with  a  genius  so  poetic  and  so  devout,  that 
to  this  hour  his  songs  are  the  adopted  language 
of  devotion  throughout  Christendom. 

It  is  not  to  my  purpose  to  dwell  at  any  length 
upon  the  history  and  character  of  this  wonderful 
people.  Two  considerations  only  do  I  wish  to 
premise. 

In  the  first  place,  to  repeat  briefly  what  I  have 
said  above,  such  was  the  origin  of  this  people, 
such  have  been  their  fortunes,  and  such  the  guides 
and  teachers  that,  from  time  to  time,  appeared 
among  them,  that  they  stand  by  themselves,  in 
respect  of  religion,  in  the  history  of  mankind. 
What  other  nations  have  been  in  art,  law,  philoso- 
phy, arms,  and  enterprise,  this  people  has  proved 
in  regard  to  religion  —  moulding  the  religious 
character  of  great  nations.  And  the  fact  that  now, 
although  they  have  no  power,  no  place  as  a  nation, 
they  are  not  only  found  everywhere,  but  that  their 
sacred  books  are  held  in  superstitious  veneration 
far  and  wide  beyond  their  pale,  and  the  phraseology 
of  their  scriptures  is  the  household  speech  of  gene- 
rations, attests  the  depth  and  might  of  the  religious 
influence  which  has  so  acted  upon  the  world. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  13 

I  remark,  secondly,  that  in  connection  with  the 
intensity  of  their  religious  faith  there  naturally 
sprung  up  that  pride  which  has  marked  the  cha- 
racter of  this  people,  and  which  no  reverses  have 
ever  been  able  to  extinguish.  Not  that  there  was 
a  larger  infusion  of  this  quality  in  their  nature  than 
in  that  of  other  races ;  but  it  has  sprung  out  of 
their  circumstances.  As  no  other  nation  has  clung 
so  devotedly  to  their  religion,  so  no  other  nation 
has  ever  looked  upon  the  rest  of  the  world  with  so 
profound  a  contempt.  Conscious  of  the  essential 
greatness  of  their  faith,  they  have  held  themselves 
the  chosen  of  Heaven,  and  all  other  men  as  out- 
casts. It  is  important  to  remark,  therefore,  that 
the  desperate  bigotry,  with  which  they  clung  to  the 
Truth  which  it  was  given  them  to  possess,  grew  to 
be  the  very  strongest  obstacle  to  the  diffusion  of 
Truth ;  the  intrinsic  force  of  which  was  restrained 
and  fettered  by  the  tightness  with  which  they  held 
to  it  as  their  private  possession ;  and  no  words  can 
w^ell  describe  the  tenacity  with  which  they  grasped 
it,  especially  when  it  was  their  sole  distinction ;  and 
so  far  from  having  anything  else,  any  national  rank 
to  pride  themselves  upon,  they  were  objects  of  per- 
secution and  hatred.  But  as  Truth  is  vital,  and 
partakes  essentially  of  the  omnipotence  of  God,  it 
2 


14  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

must  needs  have  been  that  the  time  -would  come,  in 
the  course  of  things,  when,  unless  Jewish  pride 
relaxed  its  hold,  the  Truth  would  expand ;  shivering 
into  atoms  the  nation  that  so  madly  thought  to 
keep  it  to  itself,  as  an  exclusive  badge  of  honour. 

The  crisis  came.  It  was  inevitable  in  the  eternal 
order  of  things.  We  have  its  history  in  the  life  of 
Jesus,  and  in  the  events  which  rapidly  followed 
upon  that  life.  His  appearance  was  in  conformity 
to  unchangeable  truth  and  nature.  While  in  him 
a  new  development  of  the  religious  element  had  its 
origin,  in  him  the  concentrated  force  of  Truth 
uprose  with  a  victorious  power,  and  the  nation  that 
had  so  long  kept  it  to  itself  was  ground  to  pow- 
der; the  mighty  waters,  so  long  pent  up  within 
those  narrow  Hebi'ew  precincts,  broke  forth ;  and 
although  they  soon  lost  their  crystal  purity  by 
mingling  with  a  thousand  turbid  streams,  neverthe- 
less, inundated  a  hemisphere. 

I  wish  now  so  to  tell  the  Story  of  the  Life  of  Jesus, 
that  it  may  be  seen  how  it  consists  with  itself  and 
with  all  things.  It  has  been  for  long  ages  repre- 
sented as  an  exception,  an  anomaly ;  and  of  course 
men  know  not  what  to  make  of  it.  It  is  regarded 
w^ith  a  superstitious  awe  so  deep  as  to  paralyse  the 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  15 

common  sense  of  those  who  read  it.  It  is  with- 
drawn from  the  range  of  human  apprehension  and 
sympathy.  I  wish,  if  I  may,  so  to  tell  it  that, 
without  any  distortion  of  its  facts,  it  shall  be  re- 
stored to  its  rightful  place  in  the  order  of  nature ; 
where  not  only  its  reality  will  become  self-evident, 
like  the  sun  and  the  earth,  and  w^hatever  else  there 
is  that  is,  but  it  will  be  seen  to  be  a  central  light, 
shining  on  all  the  aspects  of  human  life,  and  all  the 
topics  of  human  thought.  In  attempting  to  fulfil 
this  wish,  I  do  not  aim  at  completeness ;  I  shall  not 
make  use  of  all  the  facts  furnished  by  the  records : 
not  that  I  reject  all  the  facts  that  I  may  omit,  but 
because  all  that  I  desire  will  be  done,  if  I  shall 
succeed  in  showing  that  the  accounts  we  have  of 
Jesus  contain  substantially  a  history  seen  to  be 
true,  by  its  perfect  consistency  with  itself  and  with 
all  truth.  When  this  is  done,  all  historical  evidence, 
although  not  without  its  value,  ceases  to  be  essen- 
tial. The  truth  of  the  Story  will  be  visible  in  the 
Story  itself;  to  which  such  theories  as  that  of 
Strauss,  however  difficult  it  may  be  to  combat  them 
on  philosophical  grounds,  and  however  they  may  fit 
other  cases,  admit  of  no  application. 

At  the  time  the  Story  commences,  Judea  was  a 


16  HISTOEY    OF    JESUS. 

province  of  the  Roman  Empire ;  and  tlie  hearts  of 
the  people  were  chafed  to  madness  by  the  oppression 
of  that  hated  power.  Their  religion  had  become  a 
cumbrous  form.  Its  temple  stood  a  wonder  to  the 
world ;  but  the  God  of  justice  and  love  was  no 
longer  present,  as  of  old,  in  the  heart  of  the  nation. 
The  sweetness  of  Truth  was  changed  into  the  bit- 
terness of  national  pride  and  hate.  The  salt  had 
well  nigh  lost  its  savor.  In  the  decay  of  the  reli- 
gion of  the  people,  the  only  idea  which  sustained  the 
life  of  the  nation,  was  a  new  order  of  things,  a 
heavenly  kingdom,  which  was  believed  to  be  at  hand. 
How  such  an  expectation  was  awakened  and 
fostered,  it  is  easy  to  gather  from  the  nature  of  the 
case.  The  sacred  books,  which  the  Jews  so  pro- 
foundly revered,  bore  record  to  the  faithful  provi- 
dence of  the  God  of  Abraham  in  all  the  past 
afflictions  of  Israel.  And  the  people  could  not 
suppose  that  they  were  now  to  be  forsaken.  Writh- 
ing as  they  were  in  the  extremity  of  their  humilia- 
tion under  the  Roman  sceptre,  they  took  heart  and 
hope  as  they  pondered  the  thrilling  but  indefinite 
language  of  their  time-honored  seers.  There  they 
found  what  they  sought :  predictions  of  a  glory  yet 
to  be  realized.  They  caught  at  every  word  that 
seemed  to  justify  their  faith  and  their  hopes.     And 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  17 

thus  the  whole  nation  was  gazing  with  earnest  eyes 
into  the  near  future ;  eager  to  descry  the  heaven- 
sent leader  who  should  break  their  chains,  and 
exalt  them  to  a  power  wide  as  the  world,  to  a  glory 
that  should  cast  the  times  of  David  and  Solomon 
into  the  shade. 

In  order  to  see  yet  more  clearly  how  this  state 
of  national  feeling  was  generated,  let  it  be  consi- 
dered that  the  Jewish  polity  was  then,  as  we  now 
know  from  history,  drawing  nigh  to  extinction. 
Although  it  ceased  not  without  a  bloody  struggle, 
attesting  its  vitality  to  the  last,  yet  at  the  period 
of  which  I  speak  there  must  have  been  premonitions 
of  the  crisis ;  the  nation  must  have  been  more  or 
less  aware  of  its  coming  end ;  although  there  were 
but  few  —  although,  indeed,  there  was  but  one,  who 
read  the  signs  of  the  times  aright.  Great  national 
changes  fling  their  shadows  before;  and  men  of 
ordinary  intelligence,  but  of  no  great  depth  of  in- 
sight, have  often  anticipated  and  foretold  their 
approach.  The  old  French  Revolution  was  visible 
to  many  observers  before  it  actually  broke  out. 
Thus  was  it,  I  suppose,  with  the  Jewish  people.  In 
their  fiery  impatience  under  a  foreign  yoke,  they 
felt  that  things  could  not  long  continue  as  they 
were,  that  a  change  was  at  hand ;  and  they  fondly 
2* 


18  HISTOEY    OF    JESUS. 

trusted  tliat  the  golden  age,  foretold,  as  tliey  be- 
lieved, by  their  prophets,  was  about  to  begin. 

While  the  nation  was  in  this  increasing  fever  of 
expectation,  there  dwelt  in  the  obscure  town  of 
Nazareth,  in  Galilee,  a  woman  named  Mary,  mar- 
ried to  a  man  by  the  name  of  Joseph,  who  had 
probably  been  married  before,  and  had  a  number 
of  children.     Mary's  first-born  was  named  Jesus. 

Of  his  parentage  and  birth  we  have  no  distinct 
knowledge,  beyond  what  I  have  stated.  Of  the 
four  different  accounts  of  him  which  have  come 
down  to  us,  and  which  undesignedly  show,  in  their 
whole  structure,  that  they  were  derived  from  per- 
sons familiarly  associated  with  him,  two  contain  no 
notices  whatever  of  his  birth,  and  one  of  these 
purports  to  have  been  written  by  his  most  intimate 
friend.  In  the  other  two  accounts,  a  few  circum- 
stances are  mentioned  concerning  his  parents  and 
his  birth,  which,  if  not  wholly  fictitious,  are  yet  of 
so  mixed  a  character,  that  it  is  scarcely  possible  to 
determine  the  precise  amount  of  truth  which  they 
contain.  One  account,  Matthew's,  states  that  Jesus 
was  not  born  in  the  due  course  of  nature,  but  was 
conceived  by  a  direct  act  of  Divine  Power,  before 
the  marriage  of  his  parents  had  taken  place. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  19 

I  reject  this  statement  for  many  reasons ;  but 
mainly,  because,  supposing  it  not  to  be  true,  it  is 
very  easy  to  see  how  it  originated.  The  story  of 
the  birth  of  Jesus,  such  as  it  is,  is  little  else  than 
an  account  of  remarkable  dreams  or  visions  of  his 
parents,  mixed  with  effusions  of  an  obviously  poet- 
ical character,  hymns.  It  is  just  such  a  story  as 
was  to  be  expected,  when  the  subsequent  life  of 
Jesus  is  considered.  His  career  was  so  extraor- 
dinary—  it  created  so  much  wonder  —  stimulated 
so  powerfully  the  sentiments  of  veneration  and  awe, 
and  the  love  of  the  wonderful,  that  nothing  could 
well  be  more  natural,  under  the  circumstances,  than 
that  marvellous  stories  should  get  abroad  respecting 
his  birth.  These  stories  may  have  been  pure  fic- 
tions, generated  by  the  love  of  the  marvellous  which 
the  great -life  of  Jesus  did  so  much  to  inflame.  Or 
they  were  exaggerations  of  certain  simple  and  very 
natural  incidents,  magnified  by  wonder. 

That  the  mother  of  Jesus  was  a  woman  of  no 
ordinary  character,  the  character  of  her  son  leads 
us  confidently  to  infer.  The  mother  of  such  a  son 
must  have  been  a  most  rare  person,  a  woman  of 
deep  religious  tenderness,  filled  with  the  best  spirit 
of  the  old  Hebrew  faith,  almost  worthy  of  the 
world-wide  homage  which  has  been  paid  her. 


20  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

Sucli  being  her  cliaracter,  it  is  not  at  all  impro- 
bable that,  being  of  a  devout  parentage,  betrothed 
at  a  period  when  the  whole  nation  was  profoundly 
stirred  by  the  hope  of  a  heaven-sent  Deliverer, 
sharing  herself  in  that  hope,  she  may  have  had  her 
imagination  inspired  by  the  idea  of  becoming  the 
mother  of  the  child  who  should  fulfil  the  predictions 
of  the  prophets  and  the  fervid  desire  of  the  nation. 
Especially  was  this  likely  to  be  the  case,  if  her 
intended  husband  was,  or  was  only  supposed  to  be, 
descended  from  that  royal  line,  which,  as  it  was 
believed,  was  to  produce  the  prince  so  passionately 
looked  for.  As  to  be  childless  was  considered  a 
calamity  among  her  people,  so,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  prospect  of  becoming  the  lawful  mother  of 
children  was  hailed  with  religious  fervor,  as  a 
gracious  token  from  Heaven.  That  Mary  should 
have  formed  such  hopes  as  I  have  mentioned,  even 
before  her  marriage ;  that  they  should  have  so  filled 
her  imagination  as  to  give  rise  to  a  vivid  dream  or 
vision  of  an  angel  descending  from  heaven  and 
saluting  her  as  the  chosen  mother  of  the  illustrious 
child,  is  a  supposition  perfectly  in  keeping  with  her 
presumed  character,  and  with  all  that  we  know  of 
human  nature.  And  so  far  from  its  breathing  the 
slightest  stain  upon  the  virgin  purity  of  her  thoughts 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  21 

that  slie  should  have  such  a  vision,  it  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  touching  indication  of  the  spotless 
innocence  of  her  mind,  that  she  should  dream,  and 
in  her  waking  moments  believe,  that  she  was  to 
give  birth  to  a  child  upon  such  extraordinary  and 
spiritual  conditions,  without  any  thought  of  mortal 
passion.  In  this  way,  we  may  consider  the  recorded 
vision  of  "the  Annunciation"  as  a  sign  of  that 
saintly  chastity,  which,  as  INIilton  says,  is 

so  dear  to  Heaven, 


That  when  a  soul  is  found  sincerely  so, 
A  thousand  liveried  angels  lackey  her; 
Driving  far  off  each  thing  of  sin  and  guilt, 
And  in  clear  dream  and  solemn  vision. 
Tell  her  of  things  that  no  gross  ear  can  hear. 

Deeply  impressed  by  the  dream,  in  confiding 
innocence  Mary  communicated  it  to  Joseph,  with 
the  fullest  expression  of  her  own  faith  in  it.  And 
so  it  may  be  seen  how  he  was  at  first  on  the  point 
of  'putting  her  away.'  But,  whatever  may  have 
been  his  suspicions,  the  purity  of  her  soul  was  so 
transparent,  that  he  paused;  and  when  the  child 
was  born  in  the  due  course  of  nature,  his  misgivings 
disappeared,  and,  reverencing  her  innocence,  he 
believed  probably  that  his  wife  had  been  the  re- 
cipient  of  spiritual   communications.      The   name 


22  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

that  was  given  to  tlie  child,  Jesus,  although  not  an 
uncommon  name  among  the  Jews,  would  seem,  by 
its  signification,  savior,  benefactor,  to  reveal  the 
hopes  of  his  parents. 

Joseph  also  may  have  had  dreams,  according  to 
the  record.  It  was  natural  that  it  should  be  so. 
And  it  was  in  entire  conformity  with  the  character 
of  the  age  and  the  people,  and  with  human  nature 
itself,  that  a  peculiar  importance  should  be  attached 
to  dreams.  Visitations  of  this  kind  are  yet  an 
unfathomed  mystery.  At  all  times,  even  now, 
when  we  fancy  we  can  explain  everything,  a  vivid 
dream,  occurring  at  a  particular  juncture,  impresses 
the  mind  so  powerfully,  that  it  may  readily  be 
imagined  that  the  dreams  of  Mary  and  Joseph 
would,  in  that  age,  be  received  as  unquestionable 
messages  from  heaven. 

The  experiences  of  the  parents  of  Jesus,  in  re- 
lation to  his  birth,  were  probably  kept  at  first  to 
themselves  and  their  own  immediate  circle ;  and 
would  never,  perhaps,  have  been  repeated  —  cer- 
tainly would  never  have  got  abroad  —  had  not  the 
child  proved  remarkable.  But  afterwards,  when  as 
a  man  he  became  the  object  of  all  men's  wonder, 
every  circumstance  relating  to  him  grew  into  inter- 
est and  importance.      And  then  it  was  that  the 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  23 

visions  of  his  parents  at  the  time  of  his  birth  got 
rumored  abroad ;  variously  distorted  and  magnified, 
as  is  the  way  in  such  cases,  as  we  all  know. 

"When,  years  after  the  career  of  Jesus  had  closed, 
some  of  his  friends,  yielding  to  the  demand  that 
naturally  arose  for  the  work,  set  themselves  to  give 
some  account  of  him  in  writing,  two  of  the  four 
who  assumed  the  office  of  his  biographers,  under- 
taking to  begin  at  the  beginning,  put  on  record 
such  statements  respecting  his  birth  as  were  current 
at  the  time.  That  they  took  what  came  to  hand, 
without  examining  very  carefully  the  claims  of 
these  statements  to  authenticity,  is  evident  enough 
from  the  fact  already  mentioned :  namely,  that  two 
of  the  four  make  no  mention  whatever  of  his  birth, 
and  the  accounts  of  the  two  who  notice  it  are  very 
brief,  and  are  interspersed  with  passages  of  an 
obviously  poetical  character ;  as,  for  instance,  the 
beautiful  words,  taken  chiefly  from  the  Psalms  of 
David,  which  are  put  into  the  mouth  of  Mary,  upon 
being  saluted  by  her  cousin  Elizabeth  as  the  chosen 
mother. 

In  regard  to  these  last-named  passages,  we  have 
only  to  consider,  if  the  art  of  printing  had  then 
been  known,  with  what  a  multitude  of  compositions, 
fictitious  or  semi-fictitious,  poetry  and  prose,  the 


24  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

press  would  have  teemed;  all  having  the  life  of 
Jesus  and  its  A^arious  incidents  for  their  themes  :  — 
we  have  only  to  bring  to  mind  this  consideration, 
to  see  how  it  was  that  such  notices  of  his  birth  as 
have  come  down  to  us  had  their  origin.  The  very 
reality  and  power  of  his  life  must  have  generated 
numerous  compositions  of  this  sort,  oral  or  writ- 
ten. Had  there  been  no  such  fictions,  it  might 
well  be  doubted  whether  there  were  any  facts. 
There  was  no  blame  and  no  harm  in  such  pro- 
ductions. They  received  no  additional  authority 
at  the  time,  from  being  adopted  by  Matthew  and 
Luke.  On  the  contrary,  these  writers  adopted 
them,  because  their  general  reception  had  already 
invested  them  with  a  sort  of  authority,  and  be- 
cause, while  they  accorded  with  Jewish  opinions 
and  modes  of  thought,  they  presented  to  the  minds 
of  these  writers  nothing  directly  at  variance  with 
their  notions  of  the  character  and  claims  of 
Jesus. 

I  have  thus  endeavored  to  set  forth  as  distinctly 
as  possible  what  I  regard  as  the  most  likely  account 
of  the  notices  which  have  been  handed  down  to  us 
of  the  birth  of  Jesus.  It  may  be  that  they  are 
founded  in  truth  to  the  extent  I  have  stated.     Or 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  25 

thej  may  have  even  less  foundation  in  fact.  The 
question  is  really  of  small  moment.  Suffice  it  to 
saj,  that  I  see  nothing  in  the  character  or  contents 
of  the  records,  which  forbids  me  to  believe  that 
Jesus  was  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Marj. 

Of  his  childhood,  saving  one  incident,  we  have 
no  direct  information.  It  is  recorded  that  when 
he  was  twelve  years  of  age  he  went  w4th  his 
parents,  in  celebration  of  one  of  the  great  national 
festivals,  to  the  metropolis,  Jerusalem.  On  that 
occasion,  when  his  parents  had  set  out,  at  the  end 
of  the  holidays,  on  their  way  home,  they  missed 
their  son.  After  inquiring  in  vain  for  him  amongst 
the  numerous  company  with  which  they  travelled, 
they  returned  to  the  city,  and  after  a  while  found 
him  in  the  Temple,  surrounded  by  teachers  of  the 
Law,  questioning  them,  and  being  questioned  in 
return.  The  incident  is  striking,  and  has  often 
been  represented  on  the  canvass.  Behold  the  boy, 
with  earnest  eyes  and  a  transparent  openness  of 
expression,  standing  amidst  a  crowd  of  curious 
spectators :  men  venerable  for  their  office  and  their 
age.  His  intelligence  awakens  their  wonder.  His 
earnestness  touches  their  hearts.  He  has  forgotten 
parents  and  home  in  his  eager  thirst  for  truth. 


26  HISTOKY    OF    JESUS. 

If  we  receive  this  incident  as  true,  —  and  it  is  in 
such  accordance  with  all  else  that  we  learn  of  him, 
that  we  have  no  reason  to  reject  it,  —  we  may 
gather  from  it  that,  at  a  very  early  age,  his  cha- 
racter was  so  far  formed  that  his  parents  were  not 
anxious  to  keep  him  always  under  their  eye. 
Though  they  knew  not  where  he  was,  they  were 
not  immediately  alarmed  at  his  non-appearance,  but 
suffered  a  whole  day  to  pass  before  they  turned 
back  to  look  for  him  in  the  city.  We  see  also  that, 
when  a  boy,  he  was  possessed  with  a  conviction  of 
his  relationship  to  the  Unseen  Father.  When  his 
mother,  upon  finding  him  in  the  Temple,  mildly 
reproached  him  for  the  anxiety  he  had  occasioned 
his  father  and  herself,  "Why  did  you  seek  me?" 
he  replied,  ''  did  you  not  know  that  I  ought  to  be 
here,  where  you  have  found  me,  in  my  Father's 
house?"  intimating  that  his  parents  should  have 
looked  for  him  nowhere  else.*  So  it  appears  that, 
as  a  mere  child,  he  was  deeply  conscious  of  the 
obligation  that  bound  him  to  a  higher  than  his 
earthly  parents.  We  are  told  no  more  of  his 
childhood  and  youth  than  that  he  lived  at  Nazareth, 
where  he  was  brought  up,  being  subject  to  his 
parents,  growing  in  wisdom  and  stature,  in  favor 
with  God  and  man. 

*  See  Note  A. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  27 

At  what  early  age  a  sense  of  his  great  powers 
beo^an  to  awaken  in  him,  I  cannot  tell.  That  he 
was  most  graciously  and  specially  endowed  by 
nature,  —  a  being  of  extraordinary  completeness 
and  elevation,  —  that  his  natural  gifts  were  unpre- 
cedented, his  whole  history  shows.  Of  all  born 
of  woman,  no  one  has  appeared  like  him.  He 
represented,  not  a  class  or  an  age,  but  humanity  in 
its  highest  form. 

But  when  I  speak  of  him  thus,  as  one  by  him- 
self, I  would  have  it  distinctly  understood  that  I  do 
not  consider  his  being  as  a  miracle  in  any  other 
sense  than  that  in  which  the  being  of  every  man, 
of  everything,  is  a  miracle.  Peculiar,  original  as 
he  was,  his  existence  was  strictly  within  the  course 
of  nature.  There  is  nothing  in  nature  that  for- 
bids, everything,  in  fact,  authorizes  us  to  look  for 
every  variety  of  endowment,  both  in  kind  and 
degree,  in  individuals.  There  is  nothing  in  nature 
that  renders  it  impossible  for  a  human  being  to  be 
born,  possessed  of  all  the  gifts  which  Jesus  pos- 
sessed.* I  believe,  therefore,  that  all  the  power 
which  he  manifested,  his  intuitive  perception  of 
truth,  his  prophetic  insight,  that  great  gift,  by 
which,  with  a  simple  act  of  his  will,  he  subdued 
disease,  restored  sight  to  the  blind,  and  called  the 
*  See  Note  B.     ^'f  iV  -- 


28  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

dead  out  of  their  deep  sleep,  were  all  native  to  him ; 
that  all  these  things  came  just  as  easily  and  natu- 
rally to  him  as  the  most  common  movements  of  our 
limbs  do  to  us. 

Let  me  state  here  in  a  few  words,  once  for  all, 
the  reason  why  I  believe  this.  After  long  and 
careful  examination,  I  see  in  the  action  of  the 
powers,  which  Jesus  exercised,  the  inimitable 
method  of  nature.  I  see  that  they  are  real  and 
natural  in  the  fact  that  their  manner  of  working 
is  like  that  of  all  natural  powers.  There  is  a 
certain  simplicity,  a  certain  truth,  not  to  be  mis- 
taken, which  belongs  only  to  what  is  natural.  This 
characteristic  is  luminous  in  Jesus;  and  nowhere 
more  so,  than  in  the  action  of  those  gifts  which 
were  peculiar  to  him.  These,  though  new,  wear 
the  same  look  of  truth  and  nature  as  the  trees  of 
the  field  and  the  stars  of  heaven.  And  this  suffices 
to  satisfy  me  that  the  power  he  is  represented  as 
exercising  was  not  only  real,  but  as  natural  to  him 
as  the  commonest  power  we  possess  is  to  us. 

To  return  now  to  the  question  proposed :  At 
what  period  —  how  early  —  did  he  wake  to  a  con- 
sciousness of  himself?  No  decisive  answer  can  be 
given  to  this  question.  I  believe  that  a  sense  of 
the  greatness  of  his  being  and  his  destiny  began  to 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  29 

break  upon  him  very  early,  with  the  dawn  of  his 
reason ;  and  that  in  his  case,  as  in  others,  the  in- 
fluences to  which  his  childhood  and  youth  were 
subjected,  parental  instruction,  the  gentle  and  ear- 
nest looks,  the  words  and  prayers  of  his  mother, 
the  ever-varying  spectacle  of  life  and  nature,  —  all 
united  to  nurture  in  his  bosom  the  conviction  of  his 
peculiar  nearness  to  the  Source  of  all  Power  and 
Good.  In  fine,  in  him  the  soul  came  to  a  know- 
ledge of  itself  as  it  always  comes ;  only .  with  an 
unequalled  stillness  and  steadiness,  revealed  in 
the  beauty  and  completeness  of  its  mature 
growth. 

Let  it  be  considered  that  the  nearest  and  most 
sacred  relation  of  every  human  soul  is  that  which 
it  sustains  to  God.  God  is  not  only  the  Maker 
and  Benefactor  of  every  man,  but  He  is  present  in 
every  man.  Conscience  is  God's  "intimate  pre- 
sence in  the  soul."  The  familiar  dictate  of  duty  is 
the  living  voice  of  the  Almighty. 

The  greatness  of  Jesus  consisted  specially  in 
this,  —  that  he  saw,  with  full  and  unchanging  clear- 
ness, this  fact.  He  was  conscious  of  the  Divinity 
in  him.  His  whole  public  life,  all  that  he  said  and 
did,  reveals  his  consciousness  of  God  as  the  central 
soul  of  his  being.  He  identified  himself  with  the 
3* 


30  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

Everlasting  Father.     He  knew  tliat  lie  was  in  God, 
and  that  God  was  in  him. 

He  did  not  come  out  into  the  world  until  he  was 
about  thirty  years  of  age.  Previously  to  that 
period,  he  lived  in  a  retirement  of  which  we  have 
no  direct  knowledge.  *I  have  mentioned  the  only 
incident  which  is  told  of  his  childhood.  From  that 
incident,  but  chiefly  from  the  whole  tenor  of  his 
public  life,  I  infer  that  the  period  spent  at  home, 
in  comparative  seclusion,  was  to  him  a  time  of 
healthy,  uninterrupted,  growth  and  culture.  Day 
by  day,  in  the  simple  occupations  of  a  private 
sphere,  toiling,  perhaps,  with  his  father,  according 
to  a  tradition  ;  performing  all  filial  offices  ;  commun- 
ing with  his  kindred  and  associates,  he  was  foster- 
ing into  steadily-increasing  strength,  a  sense  of  the 
Divine  Presence  in  his  soul.  He  learned  to  see  all 
things  in  their  direct  relation  to  God  and  Truth,  to 
jpenetrate  appearances,  to  discern  invisible  realities, 
to  appreciate  the  true  life,  and  all  the  burthens  and 
perils  and  destinies  of  man.  There,  in  the  despised 
town  of  Nazareth,  amidst  simple-minded  people,  in 
a  lowly  home,  the  most  perfect  soul  that  ever  dwelt 
in  the  flesh  was  gradually  growing  into  full  beauty 
and  strength,  under  the  common  influences  of  life 
and  Providence.     Possessing  by  nature  the  clearest 


HISTOKT    OF    JESUS.  31 

spiritual  vision,  he  did  not  require  miracles  to  be 
wrought  for  his  instruction.  He  did  not  need 
supernatural  communications,  in  the  popular  sense 
of  the  word  supernatural,  to  reveal  the  Father  to 
him.  For  the  Divine  Voic-e  was  heard  by  him  in 
his  own  convictions,  with  a  clearness,  in  comparison 
with  which  the  voice  of  many  thunders  is  but  a 
far-off  eeho ;  and  in  the  most  familiar  aspects  of 
nature,  the  Divine  benignity  was  revealed  to  him. 

According  to  human  apprehensions,  when  God 
designs  to  send  forth  one  who  shall  be  filled  with 
his  spirit  without  measure,  and  be  the  representative 
of  his  majesty  and  the  herald  of  his  love,  he  must 
have  recourse  to  the  most  imposing  methods,  and 
work  stupendous  miracles,  and  voices  must  be 
heard  by  the  outward  ear  of  his  chosen  servant, 
and  angels  must  go  to  and  fro,  visibly  ascending 
and  descending.  But  His  ways  are  not  as  our 
ways.  In  that  mean  place,  in  an  unlettered  neigh- 
borhood, amidst  the  homeliest  routine  of  human 
life,  God's  holy  child  was  prepared  so  to  speak,  to 
live,  and  die,  that  the  salvation  of  a  world  was  in- 
volved in  his  being.  To  one  like  Jesus,  even  so 
poor  a  spot  as  Nazareth  was  full  of  the  music  of 
angel  voices. 

Had  we  any  accounts  of  the  childhood  and  pri- 


32  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

vate  life  of  Jesus,  they  would  possess  an  inexpress- 
ible interest.  But  we  have  no  such  accounts,  and 
can  only  feebly  paint  to  ourselves  the  Divine  Child. 
Whatever  may  have  been  his  personal  appearance, 
the  fashion  of  his  features,  the  color  of  his  eyes 
and  his  hair,  it  is  impossible  that  a  soul  like  his, 
tender,  true  and  fearless,  a  mind  so  full  of  light, 
should  not  have  invested  his  person  with  a  beauty 
which  must  have  been  felt,  which  no  pen  or  pencil 
could  portray,  and  of  which  the  halo  of  the  old 
painters  is  only  a  dim  sign.  There  must  have  been 
a  simple  and  yet  more  than  princely  dignity  in  his 
manners.  How  must  his  whole  form  have  been 
irradiated  by  the  divine  flame  of  those  emotions 
which  glowed  in  his  bosom  !  How  transparent  and 
how  penetrating  those  beaming  eyes,  as  they 
scanned  earth  and  heaven,  and  penetrated  the 
hearts  of  men ! 

At  what  precise  period  Jesus  became  conscious 
of  the  special  power  which  he  possessed  over  dis- 
ease and  death,  and  was  prompted  to  exercise  it,  it 
is  impossible  to  determine.  It  may  be  that  he 
became  aware  of  it  at  an  early  age,  and  that  then, 
shrinking  from  publicity,  he  abstained  from  its 
exercise.  But  without  being  confident,  I  incline  to 
believe  that,  although  his  power  was  born  with  him, 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  33 

it  was  not  until  after  his  public  and  formal  surren- 
der of  himself  to  his  work  at  his  baptism,  when,  as 
we  shall  see,  an  almost  overwhelming  revelation  of 
himself  broke  upon  him,  that  he  became  fully  con- 
scious of  his  extraordinary  power,  and  was  moved 
to  use  it.  And  that  then  he  knew  not  how  he 
wrought  such  wonderful  effects,  but  only  that  they 
were  wrought  by  the  power  of  the  All-indwelling 
God.  As  a  child  is  moved  to  speak  or  to  walk, — 
essentially,  speech  and  motion  are  as  truly  miracu- 
lous as  anything  recorded  of  Jesus, —  so  he  had  a 
clear,  involuntary  consciousness  of  this  singular 
power ;  and  at  first  and  always  it  flowed  out  natu- 
rally and  spontaneously  into  act,  without  hesitancy 
or  deliberation.  It  was  his  genius,  sacred  and 
unparalleled;  and  acted  as  all  genius  acts,  like 
inspiration;  which  it  actually  is.  Certain  it  is, 
that  he  himself  thought  little  of  it.  Never  once 
did  he  exercise  it  for  the  mere  sake  of  showing  it. 
Not  even  when  a  dense  mass  of  men  were  heaving 
with  the  wonder  it  excited,  was  he  moved  to  the 
slightest  self-elation.  It  was  used  by  him  in  the 
simple  service  of  sufiering  humanity,  and  with  no  ul- 
terior end ;  and  therefore  he  might  truly  appeal  to 
it,  as  attesting  most  triumphantly  the  divineness  of 
his  authority.     Only  once,  and  that  was  just  before 


34  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

he  appeared  in  public,  did  the  thought  present 
itself  to  him  of  availing  himself  of  the  power  which 
he  was  conscious  of  possessing,  to  serve  his  own 
private  purpose.  He  repelled  it  as  the  suggestion 
of  the  Evil  One.  Always  afterwards,  he  used  his 
great  gifts  with  the  unconscious  simplicity  of  child- 
hood and  nature.  If  he  wondered  at  all,  I  should 
rather  think  that  it  was  because  others  could  not 
do  the  same  things.  Again  and  again,  in  terms  the 
most  explicit,  he  attributed  the  effects  he  produced 
to  the  state  of  their  minds  on  whom  those  effects 
were  wrought ;  declaring  that  all  things  are  possible 
to  the  believing,  that  if  a  man  have  faith  only  as 
a  grain  of  mustard-seed,  he  will  be  able  to  do 
even  greater  things  than  he  himself  had  done. 

In  attributing  such  importance  to  faith  in  those 
whom  he  healed,  I  do  not  understand  him  as,  for 
one  moment,  disclaiming  the  existence  of  his  own 
power ;  because  they  could  not  have  had  confidence 
in  him  without  cause.  There  must  have  been  that 
in  him,  in  which  they  could  have  faith ;  otherwise 
faith  would  have  been  impossible.  Had  he  really 
possessed  no  special  power,  there  might  have  been 
delusion  ;  there  could  have  been  no  faith.  But  in 
the  act  of  exercising  his  power,  especially  upon  a 
person  whose  confidence  in  him  was  full  and  im- 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  35 

plicit,  lie  was  so  entirely  unconscious  of  any  exer- 
tion; the  results  produced,  extraordinary  as  they 
were,  followed  so  promptly,  —  they  must  have 
seemed  to  him,  so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  to  come 
of  themselves,  —  that  he  was  naturally  more  im- 
pressed with  the  energy  of  the  faith  which  rendered 
these  results  so  easy,  than  with  his  own  power, 
which  went  forth  from  him  as  readily  as  his  breath. 
We  see  here,  as  in  all  else,  how  far  exalted  he  was 
above  all  self-reference.  Instead  of  jealously  ap- 
propriating to  himself  all  possible  credit,  he  turned 
the  attention  of  the  people  to  the  point  where  it 
especially  concerned  them  to  have  their  attention 
turned,  to  that  faith  which  it  was  for  them  to 
cherish.  The  faith  of  the  suffering  was  only  a 
condition  of  their  cure ;  still,  it  was  an  important 
condition,  to  which  it  behoved  them  to  take  good 
heed.  We  see  by  the  light  of  the  sun ;  but  in  our 
wonder  at  the  power  of  light,  we  must  remember 
that,  were  it  not  for  our  own  eyes,  vision  would  be 
impossible. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE    SELF-CONSECRATION   OP   JESUS  —  ITS   REVELA- 
TIONS  AND   ITS   TRIALS. 

When  Jesus  was  about  thirty  years  of  age,  the 
whole  country  was  startled  by  the  apparition,  in  the 
desert,  near  the  river  Jordan,  of  a  man,  who  caught 
the  public  attention,  and  stirred  deeply  the  religious 
sensibilities  of  the  nation.  His  garb,  his  ascetic 
manner  of  life,  and  his  mode  of  address,  were  all 
fitted  to  impress  powerfully  the  Jewish  imagination. 
Clad  in  a  garment  of  coarse  camel' s-hair,  with  a 
girdle  of  leather,  subsisting  upon  the  wild  produce 
of  the  desert,  in  him,  at  first  sight,  the  venerable 
line  of  the  ancient  prophets  seemed  to  be  revived. 
And  when,  adopting  the  consecrated  language  of 
ancient  prophecy,  he  assumed  the  office  of  the 
herald  of  the  expected  Prince,  announcing  the 
(36) 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  37 

approach  of  that  personage,  a  note  was  struck  to 
which  all  hearts  responded.  He  summoned  the 
people  to  prepare  the  way,  to  make  a  straight, 
smooth  path  for  the  heaven-sent  king  to  come  with 
his  retinue,  to  level  the  mountains  and  raise  the 
valleys.  By  this  phraseology,  sacred  to  the  hearts 
of  his  countrymen,  he  called  on  all  classes  to  re- 
form, the  high  to  humble  themselves,  the  low  to 
be  exalted ;  and,  in  sign  of  this  preparative  cleans- 
ing, he  required  them  to  bathe  in  the  waters  of  the 
Jordan ;  a  form  according  with  the  genius  and  cus- 
toms of  the  country.  He  became  known  as  the 
Cleanser  or  Baptizer,  and  was  styled  John,  the 
Baptist.  He  condemned,  in  the  strongest  language, 
the  corruptions  of  the  times,  and  of  those  who 
assumed  the  religious  guidance  of  the  nation.  The 
vices  and  crimes  of  the  powerful  attracted  his  severe 
rebuke.  By  the  austerity  of  his  life  and  instruc- 
tions, he  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  popular 
mind,  and  was  soon  generally  regarded  as  a  true 
prophet. 

From  the  scanty  notices  that  have  come  to  us  of 
this  singular  person,  we  learn  that  he  was  a  kins- 
man of  Jesus.  But  the  circumstance  that  reveals 
their  mutual  acquaintance  and  previous  intimacy, 
is   the   striking   manner   in   which   John  received 


38  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

Jesus,  when  the  latter  came  to  him  to  be  baptized. 
*'  Comest  thou  to  me  !"  exclaimed  the  Desert  Seer, 
who,  owning  no  authority  but  God's,  would  be 
slow,  we  should  suppose,  to  recognise  any  human 
superior,  "I  have  need  to  be  baptized  of  thee!" 
From  these  words,  we  may  safely  infer  that  John  had 
had  such  knowledge  of  Jesus  as  created  in  his  mind 
the  deepest  reverence  for  him.  They  had,  I  doubt 
not,  communed  much  in  private.  They  had  talked 
together  of  the  promised  kingdom,  of  the  corruption 
and  blindness  of  the  leaders  of  the  people,  of  the  fate 
which  the  degraded  state  of  the  nation  portended, 
and  of  the  sacred  interests  of  Truth ;  and  in  this 
communion,  the  fervid  soul  of  John  had  been 
kindled  into  a  flame.  His  faith  was  quickened  in 
the  near  approach  of  the  great  revolution.  And 
although  he  afterwards  said  that  he  did  not  know 
Jesus  —  did  not  know  his  greatness  until  it  broke 
upon  him  at  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  still  I  believe 
that,  even  before  he  appeared  in  the  desert,  John 
cherished  a  strong  hope,  which  needed  only  the  im- 
pression made  on  him  at  the  baptism  of  Jesus  to 
become  an  assured  faith,  that  his  revered  friend 
and  kinsman  was  destined  to  something  great, 
and  would  meet  the  excited  expectations  of  the 
nation,  proving   to  be  the  very  personage  whom 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  39 

all  men  were  looking  for.  "VYe  may  thus  see  how 
Jesus  exercised,  in  their  private  intercourse,  on 
the  ardent  temperament  of  the  Baptist  such  an  in- 
spiring influence,  that  the  latter,  without  any  con- 
cert or  understanding  with  Jesus,  was,  in  great  part, 
prompted  thereby  to  the  course  which  he  pursued. 

With  the  crowds  that  went  into  the  desert  to  see 
and  hear  John,  Jesus,  we  may  suppose,  went  also 
several  times  perhaps,  before  he  offered  himself 
for  baptism.  Accordingly,  John,  observing  Jesus 
among  his  hearers,  told  the  people  that  there  was 
one  standing  among  them  so  much  his  superior, 
that  he  himself  was  not  worthy  to  perform  for  him 
the  most  humble  office,  to  unfasten  his  sandals. 
He  declared  that  the  person  referred  to  was  about 
to  winnow  the  nation,  burning  up  the  chaff  and 
gathering  the  wheat ;  and  that  his  poT\  or,  compared 
with  his  own,  was  like  wind  and  fire  from  heaven, 
compared  with  the  water  which  he  (John)  used  in 
baptism,  and  which  was  superficial  in  its  influence ; 
while  wind  and  fire  were  subtle  elements,  that  would 
penetrate  and  search  the  nation  to  its  centre.  But, 
however  this  may  be,  it  appears  that  Jesus  and 
John  were  intimately  acquainted,  and  that  John 
had  conceived  the  greatest  veneration  for  Jesus, 
and  in  his  heart  surmised  that  he  would  prove  to  be 


40  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

the  expected  Deliverer  of  Israel.  It  is  necessary 
to  keep  in  view  the  reverence  for  Jesus  which 
glowed  in  the  bosom  of  John,  in  order  to  discern 
the  living  truth  of  the  account  which  we  have  re- 
ceived of  the  baptism  of  Jesus. 

When  Jesus  saw  the  whole  world,  as  it  were, — 
crowds  came  from  afar, —  moved  by  the  appearance 
and  words  of  John,  he  appears  to  have  considered 
a  state  of  things  so  propitious  to  his  purpose,  as  a 
summons  to  begin  the  great  work  which  he  had  so 
long  meditated,  and  for  which  his  life  had  been  a 
steady  and  gradual  preparation.  But  a  step  so 
momentous  to  himself  and  to  others,  was  not  to  be 
taken  without  the  greatest  solemnity.  It  involved 
an  entire  change.  He  was  to  quit  the  security  of 
his  peaceful  home,  and  cast  himself  upon  the 
bristling  passions  of  the  ignorant  and  the  depraved. 
He  was  to  forsake  shelter  and  friends,  and  expose 
himself  to  the  violence  of  mobs,  and  the  power  of 
the  great.  Such  a  step  was  equivalent  to  dooming 
himself  to  constant  danger  and  a  speedy  and  cruel 
end.  He  did  not  enter  upon  such  a  course  without 
thought  and  prayer.  It  called  for  all  his  resolution. 
He  went  to  John  to  be  baptized,  to  cleanse  his 
heart,  by  a  significant  form,  of  all  weakness  and  fear. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.    ^  41 

It  is  commonlj  represented  that,  in  presenting 
himself  to  be  baptized,  Jesus  could  have  been  ac- 
tuated by  no  higher  motive  than  a  desire  to  conform 
to  a  common  and  commendable  custom,  and  to  give 
to  it,  bj  thus  conforming,  the  sanction  of  his  ex- 
ample. But  I  believe  that  his  baptism  was,  and  that 
he  was  conscious  that  it  was,  a  most  momentous  and 
trying  point  in  his  life.  He  did  not  go  to  be  bap- 
tized merely  for  the  sake  of  doing  as  others  did,  or 
of  inducing  others  to  do  like  him,  but  for  his  own 
sake.  His  whole  mind  and  heart  were  concentrated 
in  the  occasion,  when,  with  a  soul  melting  in  un- 
utterable prayer,  he  surrendered  himself  once  for 
all  and  for  ever  to  an  unstipulating  obedience  of 
that  voice  in  his  being  to  which  he  had  long  been 
listening,  and  in  which  he  recognised  the  authority 
of  the  Eternal  Father.  Absorbed  in  this  purpose 
of  self-consecration,  he  entered  the  river  whose 
waters  could  have  been  to  him  no  dead  symbol. 
Significant  of  the  all-cleansing  influence  of  Truth, 
as  the  stream  touched  his  person,  it  gave  testimony, 
by  the  sensation,  to  the  reality  of  the  purpose 
which  had  moved  him  to  the  act,  and  there  must 
have  gone  a  thrill  through  his  whole  being.  By 
thus  putting  into  execution — by  thus  converting 

into  an  act,  his  deep  and  long-cherished  conviction, 
4* 


42  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

that  conviction  naturally  became,  at  that  instant, 
new  and  actual.  He  had  a  new  and  deeper  impres- 
sion than  ever  of  the  reality  of  what  he  was  in- 
tending to  do.  He  had  a  new  experience  of  the 
vitality  and  power  and  peace  of  a  true  purpose.  It 
was  not  possible,  in  the  nature  of  things,  that  he 
should  have  this  experience  of  the  truth  he  had 
been  cherishing,  until  his  purpose  took  life  in  ac- 
tion. Then  it  justified  itself.  He  had  come  forth 
from  the  secluded  world  of  common  duties  and  mere 
meditation,  in  which  he  had  lived ;  which,  however 
earnest,  was  still  only  meditation.  He  had  entered 
a  new  world,  and  taken  his  first  step  therein ;  and 
instantly,  having  thus  put  his  purpose  to  the  proof 
without  misgiving,  it  stood  the  proof,  and  proved 
its  truth,  by  the  conscious  elevation  and  peace 
which  instantly  filled  his  bosom.  Had  it  not  been 
true,  no  such  elevation  and  peace  would  have  flowed 
from  it.* 

Such,  I  believe,  must  of  necessity  have  been  the 
case.  It  could  not  have  been  otherwise.  His 
spiritual  experience  at  his  baptism  illustrates  the 
laws  and  the  working  of  our  spiritual  nature.  We 
may  cherish  true  and  great  thoughts  in  the  secresy 
of  our  being  never  so  long  and  fervently.  We  may 
have,  as  we  think,  the  greatest  possible  faith  in 
*  See  Note  C. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  43 

them.  And  yet  the  moment  we  reduce  them  to 
action,  which  is  the  touchstone  of  their  reality  and 
power,  they  become  new  to  us ;  so  much  more  vital 
than  ever  before, —  such  a  new  experience  of  their 
force  breaks  on  us,  that  it  seems  to  us  as  if  we  had 
never  known  them  before.  They  come  upon  us 
with  all  the  force  and  clearness  of  revelations. 

Thus  was  it,  I  conceive,  with  Jesus  at  his  bap- 
tism. He  had  such  a  new  experience.  And  the 
account  of  what  occurred  on  that  occasion  is  a 
representation  of  that  experience.  When,  with 
reverence,  and  yet  as  earnestly  as  I  am  able,  I  en- 
deavor to  sympathise  with  him  at  that  moment,  and 
put  myself  in  his  place,  I  think  I  perceive  clearly 
how  it  was  that  his  baptism  came  to  be  described 
just  as  it  is  described  —  how  it  was  that  the  heavens 
opened  to  him,  and  the  spirit  descended  like  a  dove, 
and  a  divine  voice  was  heard. 

The  states  and  experiences  of  the  mind  can  be 
represented  in  words  only  by  means  of  images  taken 
from  external  and  material  forms  and  operations. 
They  can  be  described  in  words  in  no  other  way. 
The  inner  world  can  be  shown  in  language  only  by 
forms  and  figures  of  speech  afi'orded  by  the  outer 
world.  Let  this  be  duly  considered.  And  further- 
more, the  deeper  and  the  more  stirring  our  internal 


44  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

emotions,  the  bolder  and  more  material  will  be  the 
forms  of  speech  in  which  we  are  necessitated  to 
express  them,  if  we  try  to  express  them  at  all. 
Ecstasy  is  represented  as  an  exaltation  to  heaven. 
A  sudden  and  strong  impulse  of  mind  is  almost 
always  spoken  of  as  a  voice  speaking,  a  call.  From 
the  boldness  of  the  forms  of  speech  which  are  used, 
we  may  infer  the  depth  of  the  emotion  which  in- 
spires them. 

Connecting  these  unquestionable  facts  with  the 
inner  experience  of  Jesus,  when,  by  a  most  solemn 
act  of  self-consecration,  he  offered  up  his  whole 
great  being  to  the  service  of  God  and  man,  we  shall 
perceive  that  such  a  vivid  sense  of  Truth  then 
flashed  into  his  mind,  that  it  seemed  to  him  as  if 
Heaven  itself  was  unveiled.  How  is  it  possible 
the  experience  of  that  moment  could  have  been 
expressed  in  any  other  way?  The  peace  which 
then  filled  his  bosom,  and  which  only  a  sense  of 
Truth  could  produce,  passing  all  understanding, 
appeared  to  descend  upon  him,  and  rest  on  his  heart 
with  a  dove-like  gentleness.  It  was  to  him  as  the 
voice  of  Infinite  Love  calling  to  him,  and  addressing 
him  as  a  beloved  son. 

A  dove  is  mentioned  so  explicitly  in  all  the 
notices  of  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  that  it  may  be — 


HISTORY    OP    JESUS.  45 

I  mention  it  only  as  a  supposition,  I  am  by  no 
means  confident  —  that,  as  he  came  up  out  of  the 
river,  with  his  face  upraised  in  prayer,  every  feature 
illuminated  by  the  exaltation  of  his  spirit,  wearing 
an  angelic  expression  of  the  peace,  humility  and 
greatness  by  which  he  was  inspired,  a  dove,  the 
recognised  symbol  of  gentleness  and  peace,  may 
have  been  hovering  within  the  sphere  of  his  rapt 
vision ;  in  this  case,  it  might  very  naturally  have 
been  regarded  and  represented  by  him  as  a  heaven- 
sent sign  or  omen  of  God,  of  that  blessed  Spirit 
which  was  descending  and  filling  his  soul.* 

The  Baptizer,  with  his  ardent  admiration  of 
Jesus,  sympathized  with  him,  and  shared  in  the 
transcendent  exaltation  of  the  moment.  He  was 
so  far,  at  least,  in  sympathy  with  him,  that  he  too 
had  a  vision  of  Heaven ;  he  too  saw  the  dove-like 
spirit  in  the  transfigured  countenance  of  Jesus.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  believe,  from  anything  stated  in 
the  records,  that  John  heard  any  voice.  He  saw 
enough  of  Jesus  then,  who  must  have  looked  like 
one  all  divine,  to  be  fully  satisfied  of  his  extraordi- 
nary character. 

Let  us  once  enter  into  the  spiritual  elevation  of 
the  occasion,  and  we  shall  perceive  that  the  baptism 
of  Jesus,  as  it  is  described  in  the  records,  is  an 
*  See  Note  D. 


46  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

outward  and  sensible  representation  of  the  interior 
experience  of  Jesus  and  of  John  also.  This  view 
of  the  event  reveals  the  central  and  spiritual  facts 
of  the  case,  in  harmony  with  the  laws  of  our 
spiritual  nature.  It  gives  us,  instead  of  outward 
and  vanishing  appearances  and  voices,  of  which, 
when  we  try  distinctly  to  apprehend  them,  we  can 
form  no  clear  conception,  the  soul,  the  life,  the  fact 
of  the  occasion.  The  more  fully  we  appreciate  the 
position  of  Jesus  at  the  time,  and  estimate  the 
greatness  of  the  step  he  was  taking,  the  entireness 
of  his  self-devotion,  the  more  clearly  we  shall  see 
how  firmly  this  mode  of  understanding  the  record 
of  his  baptism  rests  upon  the  facts  and  laws  of  our 
spiritual  nature.  It  will  seem  improbable  and 
forced,  only  w^hen  we  lose  sight  of  the  glowing 
heart  of  Jesus  at  that  decisive  moment,  that  era  of 
his  life. 

Long  and  earnestly  as  he  had  revolved  in  his 
mind  the  divine  work  to  which  he  devoted  himself, 
it  was  not,  as  we  have  now  seen,  until  he  took  the 
first  step  in  his  high  career,  converting  his  thought 
into  act,  that  his  conviction  of  the  truth  of  his 
purpose  became  complete.  Then  his  faith  was  per- 
fected.    Then  it  coalesced  and  identified  itself  fully 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  4T 

witli  his  inmost  consciousness.  He  could  delay  no 
longer.  He  could  no  longer  remain  in  retirement. 
His  great  thought  had  become  life.  It  was  born 
into  the  sphere  of  action.  Before,  he  believed; 
noAV,  when  he  had  yielded  to  the  high  impulse,  he 
knew  —  knew,  by  "the  indubitable  certainty  of 
experience"  bringing  light  and  peace,  that  his  posi- 
tion was  a  true  one,  in  perfect  harmony  w^ith  the 
Eternal  will.  Now  he  knew  himself,  by  evidence 
furnished  by  his  own  consciousness,  to  be  the  Son 
and  Sent  of  God.  Before,  he  had  aspired,  he  had 
prayed,  he  had  believed ;  now,  I  repeat,  he  knew. 
He  beheld  himself  with  new  eyes.  He  was  the 
child  of  God,  fully  and  irrevocably  committed  to 
the  service  of  a  child. 

Filled  now  as  never  before  with  a  sense  of  his 
destiny,  he  could  not  rest.  He  rushed  away  from 
the  familiar  places  and  pursuits  of  his  former  life, 
and  buried  himself  for  a  short  time  in  the  wilder- 
ness, there  to  collect  his  thoughts,  to  commune  with 
himself,  to  meditate  on  the  high  mission,  a  sense  of 
which  had  just  been  stamped  deeply  and  inefface- 
ably  into  his  very  being.  After  the  exaltation 
which  had  testified  to  the  sincerity  and  pureness  of 
his  self-renunciation,  there  came,  by  a  natural  re- 
action, a  season  of  depression.     After  such  a  vision 


48  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

of  heaven  as  had  opened  upon  him,  the  common 
light  of  day  must  have  grown  dim.  When  that 
unutterable  peace,  which  had  overflowed  his  heart, 
subsided,  and  that  voice  of  God,  testifying  to  his 
truth,  ceased  to  sound,  a  celestial  music,  through 
his  soul,  there  must  have  succeeded  melancholy 
and  unrest.  "Immediately,"  we  are  told,  with 
striking  truth  of  expression,  "the  spirit  driveth 
him  into  the  wilderness." 

Thither  he  went  to  compose  himself,  to  gather 
himself  up  once  for  all  for  the  work  which  was  now 
to  be  his  life.  It  was  the  great  crisis  in  the  history 
of  his  soul ;  and  although  he  came  out  from  it  vic- 
toriously and  with  new  power,  yet  it  was  a  time  of 
trial.  Dark  thoughts  flitted  through  his  mind.  The 
self-knowledge  that  had  opened  upon  him  with  all- 
sufficient  clearness  at  his  baptism,  the  conviction 
which  was  then  made  complete,  that  he  had  the 
Divine  approbation,  that  his  aims  had  the  full  sanc- 
tion of  Truth,  appealed  to  his  pride  and  love  of 
power,  and  endangered  the  self-renouncing  temper 
of  his  mind.  "If  I  am  the  Son  of  God,"  —  this 
was  the  thought  which  recurred  to  him  again  and 
again,  and  brought  with  it  the  thought  of  using  his 
power  for  questionable  purposes. 

He  spent  some  forty  davs  in  the  seclusion  of  the 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  49 

desert,  subsisting  upon  such  scanty  food  as  the 
place  afforded ;  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  fasting. 
Engrossed  with  his  thoughts,  he  could  have  had  but 
little  inclination  for  food.  He  was  in  a  measure 
insensible  to  his  physical  wants.  His  mind  sus- 
tained him.  But  he  could  not  always  be  sustained 
thus. 

After  a  while  his  hunger  became  importunate. 
He  craved  food.  And  the  craving  intruded  on  his 
thoughts.  As  he  strolled  about  in  the  rocky  desert, 
absorbed  in  thought,  but  occasionally  distracted  by 
a  desire  for  food,  his  eye  rested  on  some  stones, 
w^hich  to  his  imagination,  affected  by  his  physical 
condition,  very  probably  bore  some  slight  resem- 
blance, in  shape,  size,  or  color,  to  loaves  of  bread. 
*'If  I  am  the  Son  of  God,"  he  thinks  to  himself, 
"  possessed  of  the  power  of  a  Son  of  God,  why  may 
I  not  turn  these  stones  into  bread?"  But  he  con- 
sidered also  that  a  man  does  not  live  merely  for  the 
sake  of  bread,  and  that  his  power  was  not  given 
him  merely  to  obtain  food  for  the  body.  Something 
else  is  necessary  besides  bread.  A  passage  of 
Scripture  occurred  to  him :  "  Man  doth  not  live  by 
br^ad  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  proceeds  from 
the  mouth  of  God."  He  needs  for  his  life  the  con- 
sciousness of  being  true  to  the  word  of  God  written 
5 


50  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

in  the  heart.    This  thought  annihilated  the  tempta- 
tion to  an  unworthy  use  of  his  power. 

Then,  or  after  a  greater  or  less  interval,  he  was 
walking  again  in  the  wilderness.  Lost  in  thought, 
heedless  of  his  steps,  he  struck  his  foot  against  a 
stone  and  stumbled.  Recovering  himself  from 
what  might  have  been  a  severe  fall,  he  recalled, 
according  to  a  characteristic  habit  of  his  mind,  a 
passage  from  one  of  the  Psalms  —  a  passage  which 
he  might  well  consider  as  especially  applicable  to 
such  an  accident,  and  as  directly  addressed  to  him, 
sent  into  the  world,  as  he  knew  himself  to  be,  on  a 
divine  errand:  "He  shall  give  his  angels  charge 
over  thee  to  keep  thee  in  all  thy  w^ays,  and  in  their 
hands  they  shall  bear  thee  up,  lest  at  any  time  thou 
dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone.''*  If  the  arms  of 
angels  were  extended  to  uphold  him,  and  prevent 
him  from  stumbling  and  falling,  why  might  he  not, 
he  thought,  go  to  the  city,  and  ascend  one  of  the 
pinnacles  of  the  Temple,  and  leap  off,  and  enjoy 
the  delight  and  pride  of  being  thus  attended  and 
guarded?  What  wonder  and  admiration  it  would 
awaken !  But  he  saw  and  resisted  the  temptation 
to  self-display.  Another  passage  of  Scripture  oc- 
curred to  him  :  "  Thou  shalt  not  try  the  Lord  thy 
God."  The  protection  of  God  is  not  to  be  expected 
*  See  Note  E. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  51 

for  an  act  performed  for  a  private  and  selfish  pur- 
pose. It  would  be  putting  God  to  a  trial,  to  do  a 
thing  merely  to  try  the  favor  of  Heaven.  "With 
this  thought,  again  he  conquered. 

He  wandered  on ;  and  after  a  while  found  him- 
self on  a  lofty  eminence,  commanding  so  extensive 
a  view,  that  the  world  seemed  to  lie  at  his  feet. 
His  heart  dilated  with  the  sense  of  greatness  which 
the  prospect  created.  "  I  may  make  the  world  my 
own,"  he  thought,  "if  I  will  only  fall  down  and 
worship  self,  and  seek  only  my  own  elevation." 
Once  more  he  baffled  the  tempter.  But  this  was 
the  greatest  temptation.  He  repelled  the  thought 
with  a  vehemence  which  reveals  its  power:  "Away  ! 
It  is  written.  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  Him  only  shalt  thou  serve." 

Hunger,  the  weakness  of  the  body,  £fnd  vanity, 
the  besetting  sin  of  the  world,  and  ambition,  the 
infirmity  of  the  noblest, — he  resisted  and  van- 
quished them  all.  After  these  trials  and  victories, 
came  the  inspiring  sense  of  triumph.  In  the  con- 
scious strength  of  his  spirit,  he  was  filled  with  a 
deep  joy,  which  flowed  into  his  heart  as  through 
the  ministry  of  angels.  There  is  no  need  to  sup- 
pose that  supernatural  forms  illuminated  the  gloom 
of  the  desert.    No  forms  of  visible  brightness  could 


52  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

shed  such  a  glor j  around  as  the  triumphant  soul  of 
Jesus.  That  it  was,  that  peopled  the  wilderness 
with  ministering  influences,  and  his  own  thoughts 
were  Heaven's  fairest  angels. 

Tried  and  victorious,  he  saw  clearly  now  that 
nothing  remained  but  to  go  fearlessly  forth  and 
deliver  the  gracious  messages  of  Truth,  come  what 
might  to  himself.  The  sense  of  his  great  duty  no 
longer  depressed  or  tried  him.  It  inspired  his 
whole  being.  He  left  the  wilderness  and  returned 
to  the  resorts  of  men,  "in  the  power  of  the  Spirit," 
full  of  spiritual  power. 

I  believe  in  the  reality  of  these  spiritual  expe- 
riences of  Jesus,  because  they  entirely  accord  with 
nature,  and  with  his  peculiar  position  of  character. 
They  werertoo  remarkable,  they  made  too  deep  an 
impression  on  his  own  mind  to  be  kept  to  himself. 
Accordingly,  as  I  suppose,  they  were  related  by 
him  to  one  or  more  of  his  beloved  and  devoted 
friends.  And  the  manner  in  which  they  were  told 
is  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  times  and  the  coun- 
try. Bringing  into  view  the  modes  of  thought  and 
speech  universally  current  at  the  time,  we  cannot 
fail  to  see  that  these  facts  of  his  personal  experience 
could  have  been  described  in  no  other  way. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  53 

In  the  account  of  his  baptism,  as  it  stands  in  the 
records,  we  have  a  mode  of  description  not  peculiar 
to  the  age  or  country,  but  necessitated  by  the  very 
nature  of  the  case.  The  facts  of  our  consciousness 
can  be  represented  in  words  only  by  figures  sug- 
gested by  material  things. 

In  the  account  of  the  temptation,  the  trying 
thoughts  that  arose  are  attributed  to  an  Evil  Spirit. 
The  question  of  the  origin  of  evil  is  a  philosophical 
one,  with  which  Jesus  had  no  concern.  It  was  not 
his  sphere.  Evil  thoughts  did  come,  and  he  re- 
pelled them.  This  was  all  that  he  designed  to  tell, 
all  that  it  interested  even  him  to  know.  As  we  do 
not  yet  know  hoiv  evil  comes,  one  philosophy  will 
do  as  well  as  another.  The  fact  that  temptation 
does  come,  it  chiefly  concerns  us  to  know. 

As  it  is  not  easy  to  determine  the  precise  dura- 
tion of  the  subsequent  career  of  Jesus,  or  to  ascer- 
tain the  exact  order  of  time  in  which  the  events  of 
his  life  occurred,  neither  is  it  at  all  necessary  to 
the  purpose  of  these  pages.  In  the  brief  and  inar- 
tificial histories  of  Jesus,  there  is  a  harmony  in- 
finitely more  interesting  and  vital,  and  far  more 
easily  traced  than  the  order  of  time  —  a  harmony 
with  the  highest  beauty,  with  Truth  and  nature. 
6* 


54  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

This  harmony  has  always  been  more  or  less  dimly 
perceived ;  and  the  perception  of  it  it  is,  which  has 
caused  the  life  of  Jesus  to  be  recognised  as  a  true 
and  heaven-sent  beam  from  the  upper  glory,  not- 
withstanding the  bewildering  cross-lights  of  a  thou- 
sand conflicting  theologies.  I  write  to  make  this 
harmony,  if  I  may,  still  more  manifest.  Once 
distinctly  seen,  it  supersedes  all  "Evidences,"  com- 
monly so  called.  It  is  only  another  name  for  the 
demonstration  of  the  truth  of  the  life  of  Jesus.  It 
offers  every  man  a  firm  foundation  for  an  intelligent 
personal  belief  in  the  historical  truth  of  the  Story 
of  that  life.  He  who  rests  on  it  will  regard  ques- 
tions of  time  and  place  as  all  but  needless  and  im- 
pertinent. 


CHAPTER  III. 

MANNER  OF  TEACHING  —  SUBJECTS  OF  TEACHING  — 
FIRST  APPEARANCE  IN  PUBLIC  —  THE  SENSATION 
PRODUCED  —  CAPERNAUM  —  NAZARETH. 

Such  a  huge  and  complicated  structure  of  insti- 
tutions has  sprung  out  of  the  words  and  life  of 
Jesus,  that  it  is  everywhere  taken  for  granted,  that 
it  was  the  express  end  for  which  he  labored,  to 
build  up  what  commonly  goes  by  the  name  of 
Christianity,  or  the  Church;  in  other  words,  that 
he  had  a  definite  plan  to  carry  out.  He  is  de- 
scribed as  the  Founder  of  Christendom.  I  do  not 
question  the  fact,  that  the  nations  which  now  make 
their  boast  in  his  name  owe  much  to  him;  that 
their  social  institutions  have  been  so  far  humanized 
as  they  are,  in  great  part  through  him.  But  I  do 
not  find  that  he  had  any  precise  scheme.     Beyond 

(55) 


56  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

the  great  purpose  of  deepening  and  diffusing  the 
influence  of  Truth,  and  of  bringing  men  into  a 
natural  rather  than  any  formal  association,  he  had 
no  idea,  I  conceive,  of  establishing  a  peculiar 
School  or  visible  Church.* 

He  came  among  men  simply  as  a  fellow-worker 
with  Truth,  Nature,  and  the  Eternal  Providence. 
The  true  word  that  he  read  in  his  heart,  he  spoke 
without  favor  or  fear.  The  good  which  came  to 
hand  to  be  done,  he  did.  He  lived  to  be  true,  on 
all  occasions,  in  all  circumstances,  to  the  law  of  his 
great  being.  This  was  his  ruling  spirit  and  his 
success.  And  to  undertake  to  define  the  end  of  his 
existence  seems  to  me  as  belittling  and  irreverent, 
as  to  presume  to  designate  the  final  cause  of  the 
existence  of  the  sun,  or  of  nature  itself.  The 
genius  of  his  life  is  one  with  the  genius  of  nature. 

He  has  been  represented,  and  is  now  everywhere 
conceived  of,  if  not  as  antagonist  to  nature,  yet  as 
distinct  and  apart  from  it.  Whereas  the  special 
charm  of  his  history  lies  in  this :  that  it  is  the  his- 
tory of  a  human  being,  who  came  forth,  and  grew, 
and  bloomed,  and  bore  imperishable  fruit  on  earth, 
making  the  very  cross  put  forth  boughs  like  a  plant. 
He  lived  like  a  tree  or  a  flower,  and  shone  like  the 
sun  and  the  stars;  and  his  life,  exhaling  its  fra- 
*  See  Note  F. 


HISTORY    OF    JESIJS.  57 

grance  througli  the  world,  is  refreshing,  like  the 
morning  breeze  or  the  air  of  mountains.  He  was 
one  with  God  and  nature,  and  had  no  purpose  apart 
from  and  less  than  theirs.  The  benignant  Divinity 
which  breathes  upon  us  through  all  the  beauty  and 
goodness  of  things,  had  free  course  and  was  glorified 
in  and  through  him.  He  prescribed  no  forms, 
founded  no  institutions.  He  committed  not  a  word 
to  writing.  He  laid  down  no  artificial  or  arbitrary 
rules.  He  was  informal,  no  system-builder.  It  is 
true,  he  had  much  to  say  about  *  the  kingdom  of 
Heaven ;'  and,  according  to  the  popular  idea,  the 
kingdom  of  Heaven  was  a  grand,  heaven-constructed 
polity,  which  was  then  shortly  to  be  established. 
But  if  we  examine  with  care  the  representations 
which  he  made  of  it,  and  separate  the  ideas  of  it 
which  were  peculiar  to  him,  from  the  popular 
phraseology  in  which  he  expressed  himself,  we  may 
see  very  clearly  that,  by  the  kingdom  of  Heaven 
he  understood  simply  the  power  of  Truth.  He 
lived  and  taught  just  as  nature  lives  and  teaches ; 
except  that  his  was  an  articulate  voice,  and  his  the 
life  of  a  god-like  human  soul.  He  was,  throughout, 
in  closest  fellowship  with  universal  nature.  He 
wore  the  dress  of  his  country,  and  used  its  lan- 
guage.   But  beyond  this  we  lose  almost  every  trace 


58  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

of  his  Jewish  blood.  He  is  a  simple  dweller  on 
this  earth,  a  child  of  Nature  loving  his  mother,  a 
Son  of  God,  walking  hand  in  hand  with  God  ever- 
more. 

As  every  stage  in  the  growth  of  a  product  of 
nature  has  a  perfection  of  its  own,  apart  from  any 
ultimate  end  which  it  may  be  supposed  to  serve ; 
the  blossom  being  perfect  as  a  blossom,  and  the 
fruit  as  fruit ;  so  the  separate  incidents  of  the  life 
of  Jesus  have  each  a  completeness  in  itself.  On 
this  account,  it  is  a  matter  of  small  interest  what 
was  the  exact  order  in  which  the  events  of  his  his- 
tory occurred.  They  have  an  essential  beauty 
quite  independent  of  this  circumstance.  And,  while 
I  observe  a  general  order,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  fix 
the  precise  place  of  every  incident  that  I  may 
mention. 

When  he  emerged  from  the  temporary  seclusion 
of  the  desert,  he  immediately  began  to  teach.  Let 
us  observe  him  now  as  a  teacher,  and  consider  how 
he  taught  and  what  he  taught. 

The  peculiarity  of  his  method  as  a  teacher  con- 
sists in  an  entire  disregard  of  all  method.  He 
adopted  no  professional  dress ;  but  appeared  in  the 
common  garb  of  the  time  and  the  country.     He 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  59 

used  no  peculiar  phraseologj ;  but  expressed  him- 
self in  the  common  speech  of  the  people,  which 
appears  to  have  answered  all  his  purposes.  Al- 
though, for  obvious  reasons,  he  began  as  a  teacher 
in  the  synagogues  or  churches,  yet  he  was  not  par- 
ticular as  to  the  places  in  which  he  spoke ;  but  in 
the  open  air,  on  a  mountain  or  at  the  sea-side^  by 
a  well,  with  only  a  woman  for  his  auditor,  under 
the  roof  of  a  tax-gatherer,  or  at  the  crowded  en- 
tertainments of  the  opulent,  at  night,  or  at  mid-day 
on  the  public  road ;  wherever  he  chanced  to  be,  he 
gave  utterance  to  his  great  sayings,  casting  them 
abroad  with  the  carelessness  of  nature ;  using  no 
means  to  protect  or  perpetuate  them.  This  god-like 
indifference  to  effect  is  well  expressed  in  a  picture, 
by  a  German  artist,  entitled,  '  The  Tares  and  the 
Wheat,'  in  which  Jesus  is  represented  as  passing 
over  the  field,  throwing  the  seed  to  the  right  hand 
and  to  the  left,  heedless  of  the  birds  which  almost 
cover  the  ground,  and  of  the  Evil  One,  who,  with 
an  air  of  malicious  triumph,  is  following  closely 
behind  him,  scattering  tares.  The  words  of  Jesus 
were  unstudied,  spontaneous.  He  spoke,  not  for 
effect,  but  from  an  overflowing  heart.  His  speech 
gushed  from  him.  He  took  no  thought  what  he 
should  say  and  teach ;  it  was  given  him  at  the 


60  HISTORY    OFJESUS.       " 

moment  to  utter,  in  simple,  direct  language,  the 
very  thought  that  the  occasion  suggested  and  re- 
quired. His  teaching  was  thus  not  only  thoroughly 
inartificial,  it  was  a  voice  —  it  was  the  voice  of 
Nature,  in  full  harmony  with  that  music  of  hers 
which  is  audible  only  to  the  spiritual  sense.  To 
describe  his  teaching  by  any  scholastic  standard  is 
out  of  place.  It  is  out  of  the  reach  of  all  such 
measures,  like  the  airy  sounds  of  nature,  the  rip- 
pling  of  brooks,  or  the  roar  of  torrents,  or  the 
songs  of  birds. 

When  we  look  more  nearly  at  his  manner  of 
teaching,  we  find  it  steeped  in  nature.  He  repre- 
sents the  greatest  truths  by  the  simplest  pictures 
of  nature  and  of  life.  He  points  to  natural  objects, 
and  the  lilies  wave  in  acknowledgement  of  the 
grace,  and  the  fowls  of  heaven  sing  the  care  of 
God.  The  most  ordinary  implements  in  the  use  of 
man  were  made  significant  of  his  meaning.  Bread 
became  a  symbol  of  himself;  and  by  the  homely 
process  of  making  bread,  he  illustrated  the  working 
of  Truth.  He  was  throughout  as  a  teacher  in  most 
intimate  communication  with  all  things  around  him. 
He  did  not  stand  alone  and  apart,  a  solitary  voice 
in  a  wilderness,  but  his  voice  reverberated  with 
thousandfold  echoes  and  harmonies  from  all  nature. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  61 

It  was  "made  of  all  sweet  accord."  The  parables 
which  he  used  for  the  conveyance  of  Truth  are 
remarkable,  not  merely  because  they  were  adopted 
to  stimulate  the  apprehensions  of  the  dull  of  under- 
standing, but  also  because  there  is  a  real  corre- 
spondence between  the  things  they  describe  and  the 
truths  he  sought  to  signify.  Not  yet,  by  any 
means,  is  the  depth  of  their  resemblance  fa- 
thomed. 

When,  from  his  manner  of  teaching,  we  turn  to 
the  subjects  of  his  teaching,  we  find  the  same  iden- 
tity with  Nature.  He  taught  as  Nature  teaches, 
and  what  Nature  teaches ;  no  more — I  dare  not  say 
no  less,  for  Nature  is  inexhaustible,  and  could  not 
have  been  exhausted.  Everything  that  he  said  was 
the  annunciation  of  a  fact  in  the  eternal  truth  of 
things.  He  expressed  no  private  opinions.  His 
teachings  were  no  inventions  of  his.  Hence  he 
declared  that  the  words  he  spake  were  not  his ;  that 
of  himself  he  was  nothing ;  that  the  same  Power, 
which  sent  him  into  being,  was  speaking  and  work- 
ing through  him;  that  whosoever  saw  and  heard 
him,  saw  and  heard  God.  He  could  not,  in  simple 
truth,  assert  anything  else.  In  this  conviction  he 
was  above  all  hesitation,  all  fear.  He  spoke  with 
a  godlike  self-possession.  His  speech  was  with 
6 


62  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

authority.  He  had  that  air  of  command  which 
belongs  only  to  complete  conviction,  and  which  is 
its  own  sufficient  voucher ;  and  all  evidence,  even 
of  miracles,  was  superfluous.  Whatever  I  am  satis- 
fied he  said,  I  believe ;  because  he  said  it,  and,  in 
saying  it,  spoke  just  as  God  speaks  in  nature. 

He  was  the  discoverer  of  a  new  world ;  not 
that  world  w^hich  is  imagined  to  lie  on  the  other 
side  of  the  grave,  but  a  world  here  within  us,  in 
which  we  are  dwelling,  and  which  dwells  in  us,  and 
of  which  the  visible  world  is  a  picture.  In  calling 
him  the  Discoverer  of  the  unseen  world,  I  do  not 
mean  that  he  was  the  first  to  apprehend  its  exist- 
ence. From  the  beginning,  all  men  have  been  more 
or  less  fully  aware  of  their  connection  with  invisible 
things;  and  human  wisdom,  in  all  ages  of  the 
world,  has  discerned  the  unseen  realms  of  being, 
of  which  man  is  a  born  denizen.  But  Jesus  was 
the  first  to  enter  the  invisible  world,  and  take  pos- 
session of  it  as  his  habitation  and  homestead.  He 
w^alked  by  its  light,  which  for  him  was  never 
clouded,  and  which  never  set ;  he  drew  from  it  his 
life,  and  was  in  harmony  with  its  laws,  uninfluenced 
by  the  artificial  standards  and  visible  distinctions 
of  human  law,  custom,  and  opinion.  He  uniformly 
treated  men  not  as  they  were  estimated  by  their 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  63 

fellow-men,  but  as  inhabitants  of  a  larger  sphere, 
invested  with  a  right  in  its  illimitable  resources, 
amenable  to  its  laws,  and  partakers  of  its  greatness ; 
brothers  all,  bound  together  bj  ties  of  sympathy 
and  love  that  never  could  be  destroyed.  The  out- 
ward person,  whether  clad  in  the  robes  of  rank  and 
office,  or  squalid  with  misery,  he  regarded  not. 
The  inner  nature  had  his  full  sympathy  and  reve- 
rence. He  saw  that  men  did  not  know  themselves, 
to  what  loss  they  were  liable,  to  what  elevation  they 
might  rise.  He  saw  that  they  did  not  know  and 
love  one  another  as  they  might  and  as  they  should ; 
and  his  whole  great  soul  yearned  towards  them  with 
that  unutterable  interest  which  could  be  felt  only 
by  one  who  had  the  clearest  perception  of  their 
interior  being.  We  speak  sometimes  of  his  con- 
descension ;  and,  measured  by  ordinary  standards, 
his  condescension  was  great.  But  when  we  con- 
sider the  way  in  which  he  uniformly  saw  things, 
everything  that  can  be  termed  condescension  van- 
ishes. When  the  outcast  approached  him,  bathed 
in  penitent  tears,  his  heart  bowed  before  her  with 
more  than  a  brother's  tenderness,  with  the  fatherly 
love  of  the  good  God  himself:  "My  daughter,"  he 
exclaimed,  "  thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee ;  go  in 
peace."      In   little   children   he   beheld   the   blest 


64  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

inhabitants  of  a  celestial  sphere.  It  was  of  this 
spiritual  world  which  he  discerned  all  around  and 
within  him,  and  of  which  the  visible  and  common 
world  was  throughout,  to  his  illuminated  vision,  a 
remembrancer  and  sign,  that  he  spake  under  the 
figure,  familiar  to  his  countrymen,  of  "  a  kingdom 
of  heaven."  He  likened  its  influence  to  a  sower 
casting  seed  into  the  ground,  to  the  process  of  vege- 
tation, to  the  operation  of  leaven.  He  set  forth  its 
laws  in  the  parable  of  the  talents.  He  described 
its  extension  as  invisible,  and  not  as  a  matter  of 
observation. 

By  employing  modes  of  illustration,  fui-nished 
by  familiar  objects  and  incidents,  and  which  a  child 
might  understand,  he  virtually  appealed  to  the 
native  sense  of  Truth  in  the  human  breast;  and 
his  teachings  simply  unfold  and  repeat  the  dictates 
of  reason  and  conscience.  He  declared  again  and 
again,  that  what  he  taught  approved  itself  to  the 
heart  of  every  true  man,  of  every  one  living  in 
conformity  to  the  eternal  will. 

I  say  then,  in  answer  to  the  inquiry.  What  did 
he  teach  ?  he  taught  the  relations  and  laws  of  our 
moral  and  higher  nature.  He  taught  men  what 
they  are  and  what  they  should  do,  what  they  should 
hope  and  what  fear,  as  beings  formed  for  spiritual 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  65 

growtli ;  and  lie  referred  them  to  the  voice  of  Duty 
in  then-  own  bosoms,  as  the  law  of  Truth  and  God. 
As  spiritual  beings,  their  life,  he  declared,  consisted 
now  and  for  ever,  in  loving  the  Right,  which  is  the 
love  of  God,  with  all  one's  strength,  and  one's  fel- 
low-man as  one's-self.  "  This  do,  and  thou  wilt 
live"  —  Hive  a  life  which  is  not  in  the  body  nor 
affected  by  the  changes  of  the  body ;  a  life  which 
thou  wilt  know  to  be  imperishable,  not  only  when 
thou  comest  to  die,  but  immediately,  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  a  power  and  peace  such  as  nothing 
else  gives  or  can  take  away.'  Jesus  revealed  our 
weal  or  our  woe,  heaven  and  hell,  here,  in  ourselves, 
in  the  illimitable  capacity  of  enjoying  and  suffering 
inherent  in  our  being.  The  eternal  world  is  here 
with  its  joys  and  its  woes ;  Jesus  never  formally 
asserted,  he  uniformly  took  it  for  granted,  that  man 
is  of  an  immaterial,  indestructible  nature.  He  read 
man's  immortality  in  man. 

And  over  this  unseen  sphere,  in  which  man  and 
all  things  are  contained,  Infinite  Goodness  presides, 
according  to  Jesus.  The  all-governing  Power  was 
signified  to  him  most  clearly  through  the  tender^st 
of  human  relations,  the  parental  relation.  Not 
that  he  was  the  first  to  call  God,  Father.  The 
word  had  come  from  myriads  of  lips  in  all  parts  of 
6* 


Q6  HISTOEY    OF    JESUS. 

the  earth,  before  he  uttered  it.  But  I  thin^^  he 
had  a  quite  new,  original  sense  of  the  Divine  Love. 
There  is  nothing  in  him,  in  my  view,  more  striking, 
nothing  that  more  emphatically  attests  his  abundant 
inspiration,  than  his  commanding  conviction  of  the 
love  of  the  Invisible.  Let  any  one,  to  the  best  of 
his  endeavor,  put  himself  in  the  place  of  Jesus, 
and  he  may  see  the  truth  of  what  I  say.  ^ 

Here  was  a  young  man,  born  in  obscurity, 
brought  up  in  the  humblest  circumstances,  cherish- 
ing thoughts  in  which  no  one  shared,  and  prompted 
to  a  course  of  life,  which,  however  it  attracted  pub- 
lic attention,  stirred  up  the  strongest  opposition. 
All  that  the  world  accounted  wise  and  honorable 
and  great,  frowned  upon  him.  His  own  family 
were  alarmed,  and  suspected  that  he  was  insane; 
and  he  was  told  again  and  again  that  an  evil  spirit 
had  got  possession  of  him.  In  this  situation,  with 
the  world  rising  against  him,  and  pointing  to  the 
horrid  Cross  as  his  merited  doom,  must  not  his 
outlook  have  been  dark  indeed  ?  The  mighty  con- 
tradiction,— why  did  it  not  overwhelm  him  utterly  ? 
What  kept  his  mind  sane,  and  his  heart  from 
being  broken?  How  clear  and  penetrating  must 
have  been  the  insight  that  enabled  him  to  descry, 
through   the   thick  darkness   of  his   position,   the 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  67 

Sovereign  Good  that  was  at  work  in  and  through 
all !  He  beheld  no  all-devouring  Fate,  no  uncon- 
scious Necessity,  but  a  Love  which  wore  the  aspect 
of  a  parental  tenderness.  Unbewildered  by  what 
would  otherwise  have  been  the  crushing  mystery  of 
existence,  in  filial  confidence,  he  called  the  Unseen, 
Father.  Solitary  as  was  his  lot,  he  leaned  with  the 
trust  of  a  child  on  the  bosom  of  Infinite  Goodness. 
Thousands  of  men,  whose  condition  contained  no 
such  contradictions  as  his,  have  been  so  overpowered 
by  the  mystery  of  Life  and  Suffering,  that  they 
have  been  driven  to  the  desperation  of  utter  denial. 
But  to  him  the  Love  of  the  Invisible  was  as  mani- 
fest and  as  near  as  if  he  had  been  in  heaven,  and 
all  the  sorrows  and  distractions  of  life  -had  sunk 
down  into  an  unfathomable  abyss  beneath  him. 
The  name  of  Father,  in  application  to  God,  coming 
from  the  lips  of  Jesus,  is  not  the  mere  echo  of  a 
word  caught  from  others.  It  is  an  original  testi- 
mony to  the  Parental  Spirit  which  gathers  the 
Universe  under  its  wings.  It  is  the  voice,  not  to 
be  mistaken,  of  a  Son  pronouncing  the  name  of 
Father,  modulated  by  that  filial  faith  which  only  a 
clear  vision  of  the  Father  could  create.  And  thus 
he  taught,  with  an  original  authority,  that  man  is 
here,  not  as  an  accident,  not  as  the  growth  of  a 


68  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

blind   Necessity,   but  as  a  child  dwelling  forever 
under  the  paternal  roof. 

We  have  no  particular  account  of  the  circum- 
stances which  first  drew  public  attention  to  Jesus. 
We  merely  learn  that,  when  he  reappeared  from 
the  desert,  where  he  had  been  for  a  while  secluded, 
he  began  to  teach  in  the  synagogues  or  churches  of^ 
the  land,  calling  upon  the  people  to  reform,  for  that 
the  kingdom  of  Heaven  was  at  hand.  By  which  I 
understand  both  him  and  John  to  have  meant  simply 
what  has  proved  to  be  an  historical  fact.  A  great 
crisis  was  approaching,  the  signs  of  which  were  as 
legible  to  Jesus  as  the  indications  of  the  changing 
weather,  (so  we  may  gather  from  what  he  said  once 
to  certain  of  the  sect  of  the  Pharisees,)  and  which 
would  demonstrate  the  Providence  of  Heaven,  and 
tend,  by  the  overthrow  of  the  Jewish  State,  and  by 
sweeping  away  the  desperate  bigotry  of  that  people, 
which  was  the  great  immediate  obstacle  to  the 
power  of  Truth,  to  establish  that  power.  Upon 
making  this  annunciation,  Jesus  was  instantly  sur- 
rounded by  immense  multitudes,  and  the  greatest 
sensation  w^as  produced.  People  came  from  all 
parts  of  the  country  to  see  and  hear  him.  Crowds 
were  collected  around  the  doors  of  the  houses  which 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  69 

he  was  seen  to  enter.  Such  numbers  were  con- 
stantly coming  and  going,  that  he  and  his  friends 
had  no  time  for  their  meals.  For  some  time,  at 
first,  he  kept  for  the  most  part  on  the  borders  of 
the  Sea  of  Galilee,  evidently  because  opportunity 
was  thus  afforded  him,  by  crossing  the  lake,  to  with- 
draw from  public  notice,  and  from  the  excitement 
caused  by  his  presence,  when  it  became  too  great. 
Occasionally,  he  retired  from  the  public  eye  altoge- 
ther, to  allow  the  excitement  to  subside,  and  to 
avoid  any  outbreak  of  popular  feeling,  which  looked 
for  a  political  reformer  and  military  leader.  His 
mother  and  kindred  were  alarmed  on  his  account, 
and  feared  that  he  was  beside  himself,  and  went  in 
search  of  him. 

From  the  desert,  as  we  are  told,  he  went  into 
Galilee,  to  Capernaum,  situated  on  the  northern 
shore  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  ;  thus  avoiding  the  juris- 
diction of  the  prince  by  whom  he  had  heard  that 
John  had  been  seized  and  thrown  into  prison.  I 
gather  from  the  records,  that  he  made  his  first  ap- 
pearance as  a  teacher  in  the  synagogues,  the  Jewish 
places  of  worship,  and  on  the  Sabbaths,  the  con- 
secrated days  of  religious  service.  Upon  visiting 
the  synagogue  at  Capernaum,  he  was  preceded  by 
the  rumor  of  his  wondrous  gifts.    He  had  previously 


70  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

given,  I  suppose,  such  evidence  of  his  extraordi- 
nary power,  that  expectation  was  greatly  excited ; 
and  although  no  public  expression  was  given  to  it, 
yet  the  idea  that  here  was  the  promised  Deliverer, 
was  springing  up  in  many  minds,  and  whispered 
from  one  to  another.  He  spoke  in  the  synagogue, 
as  the  custom  of  the  place  permitted.  His  hearers 
were  deeply  impressed  with  the  air  of  authority 
with  which  he  spoke,  so  different  from  the  formal 
manner  of  their  established  teachers,  who  lacked 
that  commanding  strength  of  conviction,  that  sense 
of  reality,  which  inspired  him.  It  can  readily  be 
imagined  that  the  difference  must  have  been  very 
striking.  The  people  had  heard  nothing  like  it 
before.  Into  the  congregation  there  had  wandered 
with  the  crowd,  a  man  who  was  insane,  and  who, 
of  course,  according  to  the  universal  idea  of  the 
time,  was  considered,  and  considered  himself,  under 
the  power  of  an  evil  spirit.  Excited  by  the  words 
and  the  commanding  bearing  of  Jesus,  and  by  the 
excited  looks  of  all  around  him,  this  individual  lost 
what  little  self-possession  he  had  retained,  and  un- 
able to  restrain  himself,  cried  out  from  the  midst 
of  the  assembly,  and  speaking  in  the  character  of 
the  spirit,  by  which  he  might  well  suppose  himself 
prompted,  since  he  could  not  command  himself,  he 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  71 

exclaimed,  "  Ah !  why  do  you  trouble  us,  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  ?  Have  you  come  to  destroy  us  ?  I  know 
you,  who  you  are,  the  consecrated  one  of  God !" 
The  man  spoke  right  out  what  many  were  probably 
thinking  in  their  hearts,  but  did  not  venture  to  say. 
Into  what  a  commotion  must  the  assembly,  already 
greatly  excited,  have  been  thrown  by  this  startling 
outcry !  Jesus  alone,  undisturbed  and  self-pos- 
gessed,  turned  directly,  and  commanded  the  evil 
spirit  to  be  silent  and  quit  the  man  ;*  who  thus 
personally  addressed  and  with  an  air  of  unearthly 
authority,  fell  into  convulsions,  uttering  an  agoniz- 
ing cry,  and  then  became  perfectly  subdued  and 
calm.  No  doubt,  from  that  moment  he  regained 
his  self-possession  completely,  and  the  idea  that  a 
malignant  spirit  was  in  him  was  expelled  from  his 
mind  for  ever.  All  present  were  overwhelmed  with 
amazement  at  this  manifestation  of  power.  They 
knew  not  what  to  make  of  it. 

Jesus  quitted  the  synagogue  and  went  to  the 
house  of  a  friend,  whose  mother-in-law  was  lying 
ill  of  a  fever ;  which,  when  he  learned,  he  went  to 
her  and  took  her  by  the  hand,  and  immediately  she 
became  so  much  better,  that  she  left  her  bed,  and 
set  about  discharging  the  offices  of  hospitality. 
The  rumor  of  this  case,  following  upon  what  had 
*  See  Note  G. 


72  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

occurred  in  the  synagogue,  created  tlie  greatest 
stir ;  and  at  sunset,  when  the  Sabbath  was  at  an 
end,  the  whole  city  seemed  collected  round  the  door 
of  the  house  where  Jesus  was.  The  sick  and  the 
insane  were  brought  to  be  healed,  and  many  were 
healed.  There  was  little  sleep,  I  imagine,  in  Ca- 
pernaum that  night.  Early  the  next  morning, 
before  the  break  of  day,  Jesus  left  the  place,  seek- 
ing the  solitude  of  the  country.  Certain  friends 
of  his,  (whom  he  had  previously  induced  to  leave 
their  usual  pursuits  and  accompany  him  on  his  ex- 
cursions over  the  country,)  went  in  search  of  him. 
When  they  found  him,  they  told  him  that  every 
body  was  inquiring  for  him.  He  did  not  then  re- 
turn, however,  to  Capernaum,  but  proceeded  to  visit 
other  places,  teaching  in  the  synagogues. 

Travelling  through  the  country,  he  visited  Naza- 
reth, the  town  where  he  had  been  brought  up.  He 
was  coolly  received.  The  people  had  known  him 
and  his  family  from  his  infancy,  and  could  not  think 
of  the  carpenter  Joseph's  son  as  anything  remark- 
able. As  reports  were  brought  to  Nazareth  of  his 
wonderful  works  and  sayings,  the  people  of  that 
place  sneered,  I  suppose,  at  the  credulity  of  the 
world.  Consequently,  when  he  appeared  in  the 
town,  "  he  could  do  no  mighty  work  there,  save  that 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  73 

he  laid  his  hands  upon  a  few  sick  persons  and  healed 
them."  Unquestionable  as  was  his  power,  it  was 
nevertheless,  as  we  see,  conditional;  it  appears  to 
have  depended,  in  some  degree,  upon  the  sympathy, 
created  by  confidence  in  him,  between  him  and  the 
subjects  of  his  power. 

On  the  Sabbath,  he  went  into  the  synagogue,  and 
as  he  was  wont,  he  stood  up.  By  this  act,  accord- 
ing to  the  order  of  the  service,  he  was  understood 
to  offer  to  read ;  and  there  was  handed  to  him  the 
volume  of  the  prophet  Isaiah.  He  turned  to  that 
beautiful  passage  :  ''  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon 
me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  proclaim  good 
news  to  the  poor;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the 
broken-hearted,  to  proclaim  deliverance  to  the  cap- 
tives, and  the  recovery  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set 
at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised,  to  proclaim  the 
acceptable  year  of  the  Lord."  Having  read  these 
words,  in  which  the  ancient  prophet,  under  an  allu- 
sion to  the  year  of  jubilee  prescribed  by  the  Jewish 
Law,  when  slaves  were  set  free,  and  debts  remitted, 
and  property  restored,  described  the  blessings  of 
the  Truth  which  he  himself  taught,  Jesus  gave  the 
volume  back  to  the  attendant,  and  sate  down ;  in- 
timating, by  thus  taking  his  seat,  (Jewish  teachers 
taught  seated,)  that  he  was  about  to  speak.     All 


74  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

eyes  were  fastened  on  him,  as  lie  proceeded  to  de- 
clare that  the  words  he  had  just  read  were  being 
fulfilled  at  that  moment.  His  hearers  were  struck 
with  the  power  with  which  he  spoke,  especially 
when  they  reverted  to  his  humble  connections.  He 
told  them  they  were  ready,  of  course,  to  sneer  at 
him,  and  say,  "  Physician,  heal  thyself.  You  have 
healed  others  elsewhere,  —  at  Capernaum,  —  come, 
let  us  see  you  do  some  act  of  healing  here,  in  your 
own  town."  But  he  did  not  expect  that  his  own 
townsmen  would  give  him  any  credit.  He  knew, 
he  said,  that  no  prophet  was  honored  among  his 
own  people.  They  might  flatter  themselves  they 
had  a  special  claim  upon  him.  But  he  reminded 
them  of  certain  facts  in  the  Scriptures  which  they 
venerated  so  profoundly ;  how,  for  instance,  there 
were  many  widows  in  Israel  in  the  time  of  one  of 
the  old  prophets,  when  a  great  famine  raged,  and 
yet  the  prophet  relieved  none  of  them,  but  was  sent 
to  a  widow  who  was  a  Gentile ;  and  again,  although 
there  were  many  in  Israel  afflicted  with  leprosy,  in 
the  time  of  another  prophet,  yet  these  were  left  to 
suifer,  while  a  Syrian  was  healed.  This  language 
instantly  stirred  up  a  storm  of  wrath,  and  the  syna- 
gogue was  in  an  uproar.  The  Scriptures,  —  what 
a  profanation  was  it  to  quote  them  thus,  to  prove 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  75 

that  dogs  of  Gentiles,  whom  the  Jews  despised  as 
we  despise  Africans,  had  been  preferred  before  the 
children  of  Abraham !  The  idea  was  not  to  be 
tolerated.  The  meeting  was  broken  up  in  disorder, 
and  Jesus  compelled  to  quit  the  spot.  The  mob 
grew  bloodthirsty ;  and  had  he  not  slipped  silently 
away,  they  would  have  laid  violent  hands  on  him. 
There  was  a  talk  of  throwing  him  off  headlong  from 
the  brow  of  the  hill  on  which  the  city  stood ;  but 
he  left  the  place  without  receiving  any  injury. 

Wherever  he  made  his  appearance,  a  crowd  in- 
stantly gathered  around  him,  and  the  excitement 
grew  so,  that  he  had  to  keep  as  much  as  possible 
secluded.  Once,  as  he  was  travelling  with  only  a 
few  friends^  at  a  distance,  as  I  suppose,  from  any 
city,  —  as  persons  suffering  with  leprosy  were  com- 
pelled to  keep  apart  from  human  habitations  on 
account  of  the  contagious  nature  of  that  dire  dis- 
ease,—  an  individual  suffering  that  terrible  affliction 
recognized  him,  and  came  and  knelt  before  him, 
declaring  that  if  he  only  would,  he  could  cleanse 
him  of  the  leprosy.  With  a  brief  and  simple  ex- 
pression of  his  good-will,  uttered  in  a  tone  of  regal 
authority,  he  laid  his  hand  upon  the  leper;  and 
instantly,  at  that  electric  touch,  the  disease  van- 
ished !     Popular  feeling,  however,  was  so  high,  that 


76  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

Jesus  charged  the  man  not  to  tell  how  he  had  been 
cured,  but  to  go  and  have  his  cure  certified  in  due 
form  by  the  priest.  But  the  man  could  not  keep 
it  secret.  It  got  abroad,  and  the  whole  country 
was  in  a  flame  of  wonder  and  expectation ;  "  inso- 
much that,"  as  one  of  the  records  states,  "Jesus 
could  no  more  enter  any  city,  but  was  without,  in 
desert  places,  and  they  flocked  to  him  from  all 
quarters." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SERMON   ON   THE   MOUNT  —  PARABLES  —  PROPHETIC 
POWER  —  INCIDENTS  —  SCRIBES  AND  PHARISEES. 

I  LEARN,  as  I  have  already  said,  from  the  re- 
cords, that  when  Jesus  first  appeared  in  public,  he 
taught  almost  exclusively  in  the  synagogues.  It 
was  natural  that  he  should  go  where  the  people 
were  already  collected,  when  he  wished  to  address 
them.  But  very  soon  the  attention  of  the  public 
was  attracted  to  him  so  powerfully,  that  a  crowd 
gathered  around  him  wherever  and  whenever  he 
made  his  appearance.  He  did  not  then  wait  for  the 
Sabbath  and  the  synagogue ;  but,  seeing  the  multi- 
tudes, he  led  them  to  a  mountain,  or  to  the  shores 
of  the  lake,  where  the  locality  was  convenient  for 
speaking  and  hearing.  It  was  on  an  occasion  of 
this  sort  that  he  delivered  the  Sermon  on  the 
7*  (77) 


78  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

Mount ;  a  discourse  wliich,  I  think  it  probable,  was 
not  all  given  at  once.  It  may  be  that,  as  we  have 
it,  it  is  in  great  part  a  compilation  of  his  pre- 
cepts, uttered  and  repeated  on  various  occasions 
and  in  different  places. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  comment  on  it  with  any 
particularity.  It  has  written  itself  on  the  hearts 
of  men.  Wise  and  simple  may  find  in  it  an  expo- 
sition of  the  whole  duty  of  man,  given  with  the 
authority  of  a  voice  out  of  heaven.  To  the  truth 
and  thoroughness  of  its  precepts,  the  universal 
conscience  of  mankind  will  for  ever  bear  witness. 
Let  every  man  ponder  it  for  himself.  It  is  intelli- 
gible to  the  humblest  mind.  It  cannot  be  exhausted 
by  the  highest.  It  illuminates  every  sphere  of 
human  life,  announcing  the  laws  of  personal  and 
social  well-being. 

How  true  and  original  is  its  beginning,  an  answer 
to  one  of  the  great  questions  which  the  wisest  of 
the  race  had  been  endeavoring  to  solve,  and  of 
which  philosophy  had  given  such  various  solutions : 
What  is  happiness  ?  an  answer,  given  in  the  form 
of  benedictions,  flowing  from  the  heart  of  the 
speaker,  —  benedictions  upon  the  lowly-minded,  the 
sorrowing,  the  pure-hearted,  the  lovers  of  peace, 
the  brave  sufferers  for  Right.     In  these  immortal 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  79 

beatitudes,  I  hear  Jesus  exulting  in  the  vision  of 
the  beneficent  laws  of  our  inner  nature.  These 
brief  utterances  —  how  widely  do  they  differ  from 
the  ordinary  apprehensions  of  mankind,  who,  in  all 
ages,  to  this  day,  search  for  happiness  without,  and 
pray  for  it  to  come  from  abroad.  Jesus  points  with 
the  authority  of  Truth,  into  the  pure,  humble  and 
breaking  heart,  and  discloses  the  perennial  fountains 
there. 

But  it  is  in  contrast  with  the  flaming  passions 
of  his  immediate  hearers,  that  the  first  words  of 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  are  most  striking.  Em- 
ploying the  most  familiar  language,  and  thus  taking 
it  for  granted  that  the  people  around  him,  coarse- 
minded  as  they  were,  understood  what  he  said,  he 
told  them  that  they  only  were  happy  who  were 
cherishing  affections  directly  the  opposite  of  those 
which  his  auditors  were  then  indulging.  They 
were  ready  to  rush  to  arms,  to  shed  blood,  to  gratify 
sensual  passions,  to  persecute  the  lovers  of  right- 
eousness. Jesus  assured  them  that  not  by  such 
means,  but  directly  the  reverse,  would  they  be 
blest. 

In  another  part  of  this  great  Sermon, —  great  in 
itself,  and  great  as  coming  from  the  lips  of  a  young 
Jewish  peasant, —  resort  to  violence,  even  in  the 


80  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

case  of  gross  personal  injury,  is  forbidden  in  dii-ect 
and  unqualified  terms  ;  and  by  the  example  of  Him 
wbo  causes  the  sun  to  rise  and  the  rain  to  fall  on 
the  just  and  on  the  unjust,  men  are  commanded  to 
do  good  to  those  who  do  evil  to  them.  Never  be- 
fore was  such  a  precept  urged  with  such  emphasis. 
It  distinguishes  the  morality  of  Jesus.  But  not- 
withstanding the  authority  which  has  been  accorded 
to  him  for  centuries  by  great  nations,  the  obligation 
of  this  law  of  his  has  been  almost  everywhere  re- 
pudiated as  impracticable,  and  the  precept  itself 
accounted  an  exaggeration.  Yet  the  early  history 
of  the  only  religious  denomination  —  the  followers 
of  George  Fox  —  who  have  accepted  this  law  in  its 
completeness,  justifies  the  power  and  soundness  of 
the  principle. 

Without  pausing  to  dwell  on  the  moral  truth  of 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  I  remark  that  it  is  not 
more  striking  in  itself  than  as  it  illustrates  the  being 
of  Jesus,  and  is  illustrated  by  it.  What  we  have  here 
in  words  existed  in  him  as  life.  The  qualities  which 
he  pronounces  happy  are  far  more  vividly  expressed 
in  his  character.  No  language,  though  it  fell  from 
an  angel's  lips,  could  show  us  the  truth  of  returning 
good  for  evil  as  it  is  shown  in  his  life,  and  in  his 
death,  as  the  crown  and  seal  of  his  life. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  81 

Upon  another  occasion,  when  the  people  crowded 
around  him,  he  entered  a  fishing  vessel  belonging 
to  a  friend,  and  directing  it  to  be  cast  off  a  short 
distance  from  the  shore,  which  was  crowded  with 
people,  he  began  to  teach,  relating  various  parables 
or  allegories,  the  aim  of  which  was  to  direct  atten- 
tion to  the  moral  features  of  that  revolution  which 
was  expected,  and  which  to  the  discerning  spirit 
was  already  begun. 

In  the  parable  of  the  Sower  casting  seed  into  the 
ground,  some  of  which  falls  among  rocks,  some  into 
a  thin  soil,  while  some  the  birds  consume,  and  some 
again  is  received  into  good  ground,  and  springs  up, 
and  yields  abundantly,  Jesus  intimates  that  the 
power  of  Truth  is  dependent  on  the  state  of  mind 
with  which  it  is  received.  Here  was  a  considera- 
tion which  it  was  of  the  first  importance  should  be 
impressed  on  his  countrymen.  It  became  them  to 
look  well  to  themselves,  or  they  would  miss  the 
good  they  were  so  fondly  anticipating.  Accord- 
ingly, Jesus  concluded  the  parable  with  a  warning 
to  his  hearers  to  use  their  ears. 

Then  he  told  another  story,  pregnant  with  mean- 
ing, of  a  man  who  sowed  good  seed  in  his  field,  but 
at  night  his  enemy  came  and  scattered  the  seeds 
of  weeds  among  the  wheat,  which  came  up  with  the 


82  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

wheat,  and  wliich  when  the  servants  saw,  they  were 
for  pulling  them  up.  But  their  master  forbade  the 
field  to  be  touched  until  the  harvest.  Then  the 
weeds  were  separated  from  the  wheat  and  burned, 
and  the  good  grain  was  gathered  into  the  garner. 
In  the  small  circle  of  his  chosen  friends,  Jesus 
afterwards  interpreted  this  as  well  as  the  former 
allegory ;  and,  according  to  his  interpretation,  it  is 
a  description  of  the  moral  government  of  the  world, 
and  a  prediction  of  the  coming  order  of  things, 
when  good  would  be  separated  from  evil.  This,  he 
taught  in  this  parable,  was  to  be  one  of  the  pro- 
minent characteristics  of  the  expected  kingdom; 
one  of  the  chief  things  which  He,  whom  the  nation 
was  waiting  for,  would  accomplish :  the  distinguish- 
ing of  the  true  from  the  false,  the  separation  of 
good  from  evil. 

This  parable,  as  a  prophecy,  suggests  certain 
interesting  considerations  in  regard  to  the  pro- 
phetic insight  of  Jesus. 

To  the  seeing  eye,  both  the  past  and  the  future 
are  visible  in  the  present.  In  what  is,  as  physical 
science  testifies,  may  be  discerned  what  has  been 
thousands  of  years  ago,  and  what  is  to  be  thousands 
of  years  to  come.     At  the  period  at  which  Jesus 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  83 

appeared,  the  whole  Jewish  nation  was  prophetic. 
It  had  faith  in  the  great  change  that  was  at  hand. 
It  is  true,  this  belief  rested  mainly  on  the  supposed 
authority  of  ancient  Prophecy.  But,  as  I  have 
already  remarked,  since,  as  we  now  know  from  his- 
tory, the  entire  overthrow  of  the  Jewish  State  was 
at  hand,  so  important  an  event  must,  from  the 
nature  of  the  case,  have  been  preceded  by  symp- 
toms, ^  signs  of  the  times,'  more  or  less  striking ; 
which  many  must  have  felt,  even  though  they  were 
unable  to  define  them.  John  the  Baptist,  with  his 
fervid  sense  of  the  corruption  and  decay  of  Reli- 
gion, had,  I  suppose,  a  fore-feeling  of  the  approach- 
ing change,  of  '  the  coming  wrath ;'  and  this  was 
one  of  the  things  which  prompted  him  to  utter  his 
cry  of  warning.  To  John,  the  appearance  also  of 
such  a  person  as  Jesus,  armed  with  the  might  of 
Truth,  must  have  been  another  stirring  sign.  In 
the  people,  he  saw  the  seeds  of  decay  germinating ; 
in  Jesus  he  beheld  the  power  of  the  Truth  which 
was  to  renovate  and  restore.  But  to  Jesus  himself, 
with  his  clear,  spiritual  vision,  how  much  must  have 
been  visible  which  was  visible  to  no  one  else  !  He 
foresaw  not  only  the  coming  ruin  of  the  nation,  but 
also  the  grand  opportunity  which  would  then  be 
given,  by  the  breaking  in  pieces  of  Jewish  pride, 


84  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

for  the  diffusion  of  Truth.  Standing  where  he 
stood,  he  could  not  but  regard  the  bigotry  of  his 
countrymen,  which  excommunicated  all  other  na- 
tions, and  Avhich  was  the  immediate  and  most  pow- 
erful obstacle  to  his  own  purpose,  as  the  one  great 
obstruction  to  the  establishment  of  the  empire  of 
Truth  and  Righteousness,  the  coming  of  the  divine 
kingdom,  the  reign  of  God^  which  the  Jews  expected 
in  the  form  of  a  magnificent  dominion,  with  a 
heaven-anointed  prince  at  its  head. 

Filled  with  wonder  at  the  overflowing  measure 
of  Truth  which  he  possessed,  and  at  the  far-reach- 
ing vision  with  which  he  saw  into  futurity,  I  cer- 
tainly have  no  disposition  to  limit  the  range  of  his 
prophetic  power.  But  since  he  himself  is  recorded 
to  have  declared  that  his  knowledge  was  limited, 
that  he  knew  not  —  that  God  alone  knew,  the  exact 
time  when  the  nation  would  be  overthrown,  I  think 
there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  he  expected  that  the 
downfall  of  Jerusalem  would  be  followed  by  a  more 
speedy  and  complete  establishment  of  the  dominion 
of  Truth,  than  has  been  witnessed.  His  idea,  I 
believe,  of  "the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man,"  was 
purely  spiritual,  not  personal,  but  the  living  force 
of  Truth,  entering  with  new  energy  into  the  world. 
He  saw  that  it  was  impeded ;  it  could  not  come,  so 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  85 

long  as  the  Jewish  order  of  things  remained  stand- 
ing. That  once  swept  away,  then  Righteousness 
would  triumph  and  prevail  without  obstruction. 
Beyond  that,  the  vision  faded  away  into  indistinct- 
ness, as  it  must  have  done  to  all  but  the  Infinite 
Eye.  He  did  not  see  —  it  was  needless  that  he 
should  —  how,  when  Jewish  opposition  would  have 
been  broken  down,  the  Truth  which  went  forth  from 
him  would  have  yet  other  obstructions  to  overcome, 
and  would  be  checked  and  crippled  by  Paganism 
and  false  philosophy,  and  the  interests  and  cunning 
passions  of  men.  But  I  wonder,  not  that  he  did 
not  see  these  things,  which  were  then  hidden  in  a 
remote  futurity,  but  that  he  saw  so  far  as  he  did, 
and  foretold  what  the  world  has  since  witnessed, 
and  is  even  now  witnessing :  the  influence  of  those 
principles,  which  came  into  the  world  with  a  new 
force  in  him,  and,  going  forth  from  him,  survived 
the  ruin  of  his  country,  and  went  abroad  over  the 
earth  ;  tending  mightily,  according  to  the  prediction 
of  the  parable,  to  separate  the  true  from  the  false, 
the  good  from  the  bad.  Yes,  the  Truth,  made  vital 
by  him,  has  come,  and  is  winnowing  the  world, 
separating  the  chaff  from  the  wheat.  Mighty 
angels  are  abroad  in  all  those  agencies  which  the 
progress  of  things  has  brought  into  operation; 
8 


86  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

separating  the  tares  from  the  wheat,  burning  up 
the  tares  and  gathering  in  the  \Yheat.  Still,  I  do 
not  suppose  that  Jesus  foresaw  —  the  prospect  was 
too  far  distant  for  any  but  the  All-seeing  —  how 
mournfully  Truth  would  be  neutralized  and  per- 
verted for  ages  after  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish 
nation  had  seemed  to  make  a  smooth  way  for  its 
coming  in  power  and  great  glory.  Surely  it  would 
have  fallen  with  a  breaking  weight,  even  on  his 
heart,  mighty  in  faith,  had  he  foreseen  that,  cen- 
turies after  him,  the  record  of  his  own  words  would 
be  appealed  to  for  permission  to  wage  inhuman  war, 
and  to  treat  man  as  a  thing  to  be  bought  and  sold 
like  a  beast  of  burthen.  Penetrating  as  was  his 
spiritual  sight,  he  yet  knew  not,  as  he  himself  said, 
when  his  predictions  would  be  fulfilled,  save  that  it 
would  be  in  that  generation ;  neither,  as  I  conceive, 
did  he  know  how  long  the  harvest  would  be  in 
gathering.  That  was  known  only  to  Him,  before 
whom  a  thousand  years  are  but  as  one  day.  With 
this  understanding  of  the  prophetic  power  of  Jesus, 
I  resume  the  Story. 

He  related  many  other  parables  to  the  people, 
the  aim  of  which  was  to  call  attention  to  the  invi- 
sible, moral  features  of  the  new  order  of  things,  the 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  87 

next  *  age.'  Afterwards,  when  he  was  alone  with 
his  chosen  friends,  they  asked  him  why  he  spoke  in 
parables.  ^You  are  able,'  he  told  them  in  reply, 
*  to  understand  the  hidden  truths  concerning  the 
expected  kingdom,  but  the  people  at  large  are  un- 
able. Their  modes  of  thinking  are  so  gross,  so 
depraved  by  pictures  of  an  external  greatness  and 
splendor,  that  they  would  not  apprehend  my  mean- 
ing, were  I  to  speak  more  plainly.  I  employ  para- 
bles to  stimulate  their  curiosity,  and  set  them 
thinking  out  the  Truth  for  themselves.' 

We  shall  have  no  adequate  idea  of  those  startling 
and  instantaneous  cures  wrought  by  Jesus,  unless 
we  keep  fully  in  view  the  tremendous  excitement 
by  which  the  whole  country,  far  and  near,  was 
stirred.  The  crowd  at  times  was  so  great,  that 
people  were  in  danger  of  being  crushed  to  death 
or  trampled  under  foot.  The  land  was  electrified. 
Faith  and  hope  and  wonder,  to  which  his  words  and 
acts,  and  looks  even,  as  I  cannot  but  believe,  ap- 
pealed with  a  mighty  power,  ran  like  wildfire 
through  the  country,  —  raged  like  an  epidemic. 
The  strongest  emotions  of  our  nature  flamed  forth 
as  at  the  visible  presence  of  a  god.  Persons  suf- 
fering from  any  physical  infirmity  were  of  course 


8«  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

particularly  sensitive  —  liable  to  be  greatly  affected 
by  sympathy  with  the  popular  feeling  which  surged 
around  them,  fusing  all  hearts.  Every  man  knows 
how  powerfully  mental  excitement  acts  upon  the 
body. 

On  one  occasion  there  came  persons  to  Jesus, 
requesting  his  help  in  behalf  of  a  youth  belonging 
to  the  family  of  a  Roman  officer,  whose  liberality 
and  respect  for  their  religion  had  won  the  regard 
of  the  people  among  whom  he  was  stationed.  The 
circumstances  of  the  case  justify  us  in  supposing 
that  he  was  a  man  who  had  been  particularly  im- 
pressed with  the  excellence  of  the  religion  of  this 
conquered  people.  Certain  it  is,  that  he  had  seen 
and  heard  enough  of  the  wonderful  man  who  en- 
grossed public  attention,  to  have  conceived  entire 
confidence  in  him.  With  the  request  thus  preferred, 
Jesus  signified  his  readiness  to  comply,  and  turned 
to  go  to  the  centurion's  house.  On  the  way,  the 
centurion  himself,  who,  perhaps,  in  his  humility, 
had  not  dreamed  of  being  so  honored,  met  him  and 
said  to  him :  '  Sir,  I  am  not  worthy  that  you  should 
visit  my  house,  neither  is  it  necessary.  Just  sijeah 
the  word,  and  the  boy  will  be  well.  Even  I,  who 
am  at  the  beck  and  biddino^  of  others  in  hio;her 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  89 

authority  than  I,  even  I  can  command  those  who 
are  under  me,  and  I  am  obeyed.  Do  you  tten 
order  it  to  be  so,  and  the  child  is  well.'  Such  an 
address,  such  confidence  expressed  in  him  by  a 
Gentile,  struck  Jesus  with  astonishment,  and  he 
turned  to  those  who  were  with  him,  and  declared 
with  emphasis,  that  he  had  met  with  no  faith  like 
this  among  his  own  countrymen ;  that  people  would 
come  from  the  remotest  quarters  —  from  the  East 
and  the  West,  and  the  North  and  the  South,  and 
enter  into  communion  with  the  saints  and  patri- 
archs, while  those  who  accounted  themselves  the 
exclusive  heirs  of  the  coming  kingdom  would  be 
thrust  out  into  darkness.  Turning  then  to  the 
centurion,  he  said,  'As  you  have  believed,  so  be  it.' 
The  centurion,  who  had  shortly  before  left  the  sick 
lad,  from  the  impulse  of  a  faith  which  we  may 
readily  imagine  the  boy  to  have  caught  from  him, 
returned  home,  and  that  very  hour  the  boy  was 
restored.  His  disease  was  a  nervous  one,  palsy; 
and  we  readily  see  how  the  expectation  of  seeing  or 
hearing  the  wonder-worker  must  have  acted  on  the 
susceptible  mind  of  the  youth.  lie  must  needs 
have  got  well. 

In  this  incident  we  have  an  illustration  of  the 
prophetic  insight  of  Jesus.     He  saw  in  the  case  of 
8* 


90  HISTORYOFJESUS. 

this  Roman  a  token  and  pledge  of  the  force  of  the 
Truth,  which,  when  Israel  should  be  cast  out  and 
cast  down,  would  touch  human  hearts  all  over  the 
earth,  and  bring  them  into  full  fellowship  with  the 
great  and  good  of  past  times. 

On  another  occasion,  there  was  a  woman  in  the 
crowd  following  Jesus,  who  had  been  a  sufferer  for 
years,  trying  all  sorts  of  remedies  in  vain.  She 
had  heard  of  the  wondrous  cures  he  had  wrought ; 
and  her  own  suffering  condition  would  naturally 
and  strongly  incline  her  to  believe  in  his  power. 
Perhaps  she  had  herself  witnessed  the  effect  of  the 
extraordinary  gift  with  which  he  was  endowed. 
But,  with  a  natural  timidity,  she  shrunk  from  soli- 
citing his  aid ;  or,  in  her  humble  opinion  of  herself, 
she  perhaps  did  not  dare  to  hope  that,  amidst  so 
many  people,  and  with  his  attention  so  occupied,  he 
would  pay  any  regard  to  her.  And  yet  her  faith 
in  him  was  undoubting.  She  thought,  —  so  pro- 
found was  the  reverence  he  had  awakened  in  her, — 
that,  if  she  could  only  get  behind  him,  and  touch 
only  so  much  as  the  hem  of  his  garment,  she  would 
at  once  be  healed.  Accordingly,  she  pressed 
through  the  crowd,  and,  watching  her  opportunity, 
clutched  at  his  clothes  with  that  convulsive  motion 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  91 

wMcli  her  throbbing  heart,  all  in  a  tremble  of  emo- 
tion, must  have  prompted.  It  was  her  last  hope  of 
cure.  The  touch  must  have  been  to  her  like  an 
electric  stroke  —  not  merely  affecting  her  nerves, 
but  penetrating  like  lightning  to  the  inmost  springs 
of  her  life  —  and  instantly  she  felt  that  she  was 
healed !  Jesus  perceived  something  significant  in 
the  manner  in  which  his  clothes  had  been  grasped ; 
and,  surmising  the  real  state  of  the  case,  turned 
round,  and  asked  who  it  was.  The  persons  about 
him  were  surprised  that,  in  such  a  crowd  pressing 
upon  him,  he  should  ask  such  a  question.  He  per- 
sisted; there  was,  he  was  persuaded,  a  particular 
meaning  and  purpose  in  the  act.  Upon  this,  the 
woman,  naturally  ingenuous,  or,  perhaps,  after  such 
an  experience  of  his  power,  thinking  it  fruitless  to 
attempt  to  conceal  herself,  came  forward  and  con- 
fessed the  whole  truth.  She  must  have  felt  as  if 
she  had  committed  a  fraud,  in  having  stolen  from 
him  her  cure ;  for  she  had  imagined  that  there  was 
a  mysterious  healing  power  in  his  very  clothes. 
Jesus  assured  her  that  she  had  no  reason  to  be 
afraid,  bade  her  be  of  good  cheer,  and  told  her  that 
faith  had  cm^ed  her.  We  thus  see  why  it  was  that 
he  insisted  upon  knowing  who  it  was  that  had 
caught  at  his  garments.     He  divined  what  the  mat- 


92  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

ter  was ;  and,  whoever  it  was  that  had  done  the 
thing,  he  wished  to  assure  the  person  of  his  good- 
will, and  inform  him  or  her  that  it  was  not  any 
medical  efficacy  in  his  clothes,  but  the  person's  own 
faith,  which  wrought  the  cure.  He  wished  espe- 
cially to  commend  that.* 

This  incident  occurred  when  Jesus  was  on  his 
way  to  the  house  of  a  man  of  some  note,  one  of 
the  presiding  officers  of  the  synagogue,  who  had 
solicited  a  visit  from  him  on  account  of  his  daugh- 
ter, a  child  of  twelve  years  of  age,  who  was  lying 
at  the  point  of  death.  Before  he  reached  the 
place,  intelligence  came  that  the  little  girl  had 
breathed  her  last.  Jesus,  bidding  those  who  were 
with  him  to  fear  nothing,  but  only  to  have  confi- 
dence in  him,  continued  on  his  way.  When  he 
reached  the  house,  he  found  many  people  there,  and 
the  mourning  women  whom  it  was  the  custom  to 
employ  on  occasions  of  death,  and  who,  with  cun- 
ning power,  so  counterfeited  the  expressions  of  grief, 
as  to  move  all  beholders  to  tears.  He  instantly 
caused  the  people  to  leave  the  house ;  declaring 
that  the  child  was  not  dead,  but  only  asleep.  The 
declaration  was  received  with  incredulity  and  deri- 
sion. Nevertheless,  all  were  dismissed  but  the 
parents  of  the  child  and  two  or  three  of  his  friends. 
*  See  Note  H. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  \)6 

He  tli(>n  took  the  little  girl  by  the  hand,  and  with 
a  tone  of  authority  bade  her  rise.  And  she  rose 
immediately,  and  stood  on  her  feet  and  walked,  and 
he  directed  that  something  should  be  given  her  to 
eat.  All  these  wonderful  effects  which  he  wrought 
are  marked  by  a  striking  directness  and  simplicity 
in  his  mode  of  proceeding.  There  was  no  imposing 
work  of  preparation,  no  parade.  But  all  that  was 
done  was  done  naturally,  without  noise  or  show. 
In  this  last  instance,  so  far  from  making  any  ac- 
count of  his  power,  he  tried  to  conceal  it.  He  said 
that  the  child  was  not  dead,  but  only  asleep ;  which 
he  could  safely  say  in  the  confidence  of  that  power 
by  which  he  was  about  to  recall  her  to  life.  He 
permitted  only  two  or  three  persons  to  be  present, 
and  these  he.  charged  not  to  tell  what  had  taken 
place ;  for  the  sensation  these  wonderful  things 
produced  was  so  great,  that  he  had  to  retire  before 
it,  lest  the  people  should  insist  upon  his  placing 
himself  at  their  head,  as  their  leader  and  king. 

It  lay  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  that  Jesus  could 
not  long  continue  saying  and  doing  these  things, 
without  coming  in  collision  with  that  powerful  class 
and  their  adherents,  who  arrogated  to  themselves 
all  authority  and  influence  in  matters  of  religion. 


94  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

In  tlieir  hands,  religion  was  made  a  mere  string  of 
outside,  ritual  observances,  dead  husks,  on  which 
they  pretended  to  feed  the  people,  but  which  could 
meet  the  wants,  interest  the  affections,  of  no  living 
soul.  It  had  no  sincerity,  but  was  dry  and  dead, 
with  not  a  drop  of  life  in  it.  It  thrust  away  into 
the  background,  amongst  unregarded  things,  the 
eternal  laws  of  Justice  and  Humanity,  and  put  for- 
ward in  their  place  the  most  trivial  ceremonies. 
The  established  teachers  of  the  religion  of  the  day 
were  those  classes,  designated  in  the  records  as 
Scribes,  lawyers  or  teachers  of  the  Law,  of  the 
sect  of  the  Pharisees.  All  the  literary  men  of  the 
country  were  entitled  Scribes,  or  teachers  of  the 
Law,  because  the  Scriptures,  the  sole  literature  of 
the  nation,  constituted  their  chief  study. 

Besides  the  written  Law,  contained  in  the  Old 
Testament,  the  Jews  recognized  an  oral  law,  ^the 
traditions  of  the  elders ;'  a  multitude  of  rules  and 
precepts,  chiefly  ceremonial,  which  had  been  handed 
down  from  age  to  age,  and  to  which  every  age  made 
additions,  until  it  became  necessary,  if  they  were  to 
be  preserved,  that  they  should  be  committed  to 
writing,  which  was  done  at  an  early  period  of  the 
Christian  Era.  They  are  now  extant  in  some  dozen 
folio  volumes,  called  the  Talmud.     There  are  pas- 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  95 

sages  and  parables  in  this  work  of  a  truly  Christian 
beauty  ;  but,  for  the  most  part,  it  is  a  mere  compi- 
lation of  petty  and  trifling  rules  pertaining  to  the 
ceremonial  of  religion.  The  character  of  its  con- 
tents may  be  gathered  fropi  the  occasional  refer- 
ences in  the  accounts  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  to  the 
traditions  of  the  elders.  These  traditions  were  to 
the  written  Law  of  the  Old  Testament  precisely 
what  creeds,  and  confessions  of  faith,  and  transla- 
tions, among  Christians,  have  been  and  are  to  the 
Bible. 

The  Pharisees,  a  sect  whose  name  is  synonymous 
with  Separatists,  magnified  the  authority  of  the  tra- 
ditions, to  the  neglect  of  the  written  Law.  Just  as, 
in  these  days,  there  is  a  great  zeal  for  the  Church ; 
by  which  is  meant  hardly  anything  more  than  this 
or  that  ecclesiastical  organization;  a  zeal  which  ex- 
pends itself  in  church-building  and  church-going,  to 
the  utter  neglect  of  the  plainest  rights,  and  the  most 
sacred  social  and  personal  obligations ;  so,  in  the 
days  of  Jesus,  the  Pharisees  were  punctilious  to  the 
last  degree  about  a  mere  ritual,  the  observance  of 
the  Sabbath,  the  washing  of  hands  before  eating, 
and  numberless  trivialities,  while  they  passed  over 
justice,  and  the  love  of  God  and  man.  When  we 
read,  at  the  present  day,  the  proceedings  of  General 


yt>  HISTORY    OF    JESUS.. 

Assemblies  of  this  Church  or  that,  and  observe 
their  silence  in  regard  to  the  greatest  existing 
wrongs, —  the  wrong  of  enslaving  men,  for  instance, 
—  and  the  emphasis  with  which  they  condemn 
dancing  at  social  parties,  we  must  noeds  be  re- 
minded of  those  ancient  Separatists,  of  whom  Jesus 
said  that  they  were  very  careful  to  strain  the  gnats 
out  of  their  cups,  while  they  swallowed  camels 
without  the  slightest  spasm. 

The  Pharisees  looked  upon  the  common  people 
as  ignorant  and  accursed.  They  kept  them  weighed 
down  with  a  burthen  of  ceremonial  observances, 
which  they  themselves  extended  not  a  finger  to 
lighten.  They  cherished  a  boundless  love  of 
spiritual  domination.  The  real,  inmost  wants  of 
the  souls  of  men  went  wholly  unsupplied.  The 
uneducated  poor  knew  not  their  own  need.  They 
were  overawed  by  the  imposing  appearance  of  sanc- 
tity worn  by  their  spiritual  guides,  who  were  ready 
to  persecute  to  the  death  any  one  who  dared  to 
question  their  authority,  any  one  who  showed  re- 
gard for  anything  but  appearances.  So  grossly 
was  religion  perverted  in  their  hands,  so  entirely 
had  it  become  an  outside  show,  a  corpse  without 
any  animating  principle,  that  every  touch  of  com- 
mon humanity  seems  to  have  been  obKterated  from 
their  hearts. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  97 

The  difference  between  these  formalists  and  Jesus 
struck  every  one  at  once.  It  was  the  difference 
between  the  harsh  creaking  of  machines  and  a 
genial  human  voice.  With  what  weariness  and  con- 
straint the  people  hearkened  to  the  common  teachers 
of  the  Law,  we  may  infer  from  the  eagerness  with 
which  they  listened  to  Jesus.  Him  they  heard 
gladly.  They  crowded  round  him ;  among  them 
numbers,  perhaps,  who  hardly  ever  entered  a  syna- 
gogue ;  moved  in  great  part,  no  doubt,  by  curiosity 
and  a  love  of  the  marvellous.  Still,  it  is  apparent 
there  was  a  power  in  his  words  that  drew  them  to 
him ;  they  came  to  hear  as  well  as  to  see.  When, 
to  avoid  the  crowd,  he  crossed  the  lake,  they  went 
in  pursuit  of  him ;  following  him,  for  days  toge- 
ther, from  place  to  place,  and  forgetting  fatigue 
and  hunger,  until  they  were  ready  to  faint.  Their 
eagerness  touched  him  to  the  heart.  He  pitied 
them.  They  seemed  to  him,  as  he  said,  like  sheep 
wandering  without  a  shepherd,  or  like  a  harvest- 
field  ripe  for  the  sickle.  "  Pray  ye  the  Master  of 
the  harvest,"  said  he  to  his  friends,  "to  send 
laborers  into  the  field."  It  was  the  evident  wants 
of  the  people,  their  manifest  need  and  desire  of 
instruction,  that  led  him,  as  I  suppose,  to  send 
abroad    over    the    country,    first    his    few    chosen 


98  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

friends,  and  then  seventy  otliers  afterwards,  to 
diffuse  far  and  wide  the  interest  which  had  been 
awakened,  and  to  fix  public  attention  upon  the 
necessity  of  thorough  reformation,  in  view  of  the 
portentous  signs  of  the  times,  and  to  prepare  the 
people  for  the  great  change  which  was  at  hand. 

The  enthusiasm  with  which  the  mass  of  the 
people  flocked  to  him,  awoke  the  hostility  of  the 
ruling  classes ;  and  we  find  Scribes  and  Pharisees 
mingling  in  the  crowd,  and  becoming  conspicuous. 
He  spoke  of  these  classes,  from  the  first,  in  terms 
of  strong  and  unqualified  condemnation.  He  de- 
clared the  righteousness  upon  which  they  laid  so 
much  stress,  and  which  was  a  mere  external  show 
and  make-believe,  of  no  value.  He  told  the  people 
that  if  they  had  no  righteousness  but  that,  they 
could  never  participate  in  the  privileges  of  the 
coming  kingdom.  How  must  the  hearts  of  the 
Pharisees  have  boiled  over  with  wrath,  when,  in 
condemnation  of  such  as  accounted  themselves  reli- 
gious, and  looked  down  with  contempt  on  others, 
he  told  a  story  about  a  Pharisee  and  a  Publican, — 
exalting  the  one  and  abasing  the  other,  —  and  thus 
insulting  their  whole  pious  body  before  all  the 
world,  by  bringing  them  into  odious  contrast  with 
vile  tax-gatherers  !     It  was  such  things  as  this  that 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  99 

stirred  their  bitterest  hate.  Accordingly  we  find 
them,  on  repeated  occasions,  acting  the  part  of 
spies,  perverting  his  words  and  actions.  They 
called  him  blasphemer.  Sabbath-breaker,  di'unkard, 
associate  of  the  vilest  of  the  people,  in  league  with 
evil  spirits. 

After  a  temporary  retirement  before  the  popular 
feeling,  lie  returned  again  to  Capernaum.  The 
rumor  of  his  being  in  a  certain  house  was  instantly 
spread  far  and  wide,  and  the  house  was  thronged, 
and  there  was  no  getting  near  the  door.  There 
came  four  men,  bearing  on  a  litter  a  man  suffering 
with  paralysis,  but  it  was  impossible  to  get  through 
the  crowd.  The  houses  of  the  place,  according  to 
the  style  of  building  prevalent  in  the  East,  a  style 
suggested  by  the  climate,  were  flat-roofed,  and  the 
tops  of  the  houses  were  places  of  daily  resort, 
where  families  met  and  neighbors  interchanged  talk. 
The  men  who  were  bearing  the  sick  man,  taking 
advantage  of  this  construction,  carried  him  into 
one  of  the  houses  near  that  in  which  Jesus  was, 
and  passing  the  litter  to  the  top  of  the  house  in 
which  Jesus  sate  discoursing,  broke  away  and  en- 
larged the  opening  or  door  in  the  roof,  which  offered 
communication  with  the  interior,  and  thus  lowered 


100  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

the  sick  man  down  into  tlie  room  where  Jesus  was, 
wlio  was  evidently  touched  by  the  confidence  thus 
evinced  in  him.  In  the  fact  that  this  poor  sufferer 
had  caused  himself  to  be  brought  and  laid  at  his 
feet,  he  read  the  man's  soul.  His  penetrating 
glance  beheld,  in  every  lineament  of  that  wasted 
countenance,  the  faith,  the  fear,  the  veneration,  the 
penitence,  with  which  the  shattered  frame  was  shak- 
ing ;  and  he  instantly  addressed  the  paralytic  in 
words  of  the  greatest  kindness :  ''  Son,  be  of  good 
heart,  your  sins  are  all  forgiven,"  The  man's  for- 
giveness was  legible  in  his  whole  appearance,  in 
every  circumstance  of  the  case.  But  there  were 
Pharisees,  teachers  of  the  Law,  present ;  and  when 
Jesus  said  this,  they  instantly  knit  their  brows  and 
exchanged  looks  of  affected  horror,  as  much  as  to 
say :  "  What  horrible  blasphemy  is  this !  Who  is 
this  man  who  undertakes  to  forgive  sin !"  Jesus 
saw  at  once  what  they  were  thinking  of,  and  turned 
-to  them,  and  said  in  effect :  "  What  are  you  mur- 
muring at  ?  You  believe  that  suffering  is  a  proof 
of  sin  in  the  sufferer.  When  the  suffering  is  re- 
moved then,  the  sin  is  forgiven,  as,  according  to 
your  faith,  you  will  admit.  That  you  may  know 
then  that  I  have  power  to  declare  this  man  for- 
given," —  with  this,  he  turned  to  the  sick  man,  and 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  101 

said  to  him :  "  Rise  up,  and  take  your  bed  and  go 
home."  And  he,  that  a  moment  before  was  so 
helpless  that  he  could  not  move  a  limb,  stood  erect, 
and  took  up  his  bed  and  went !  What  a  sensation 
must  it  have  caused  outside,  when  he,  whom  the 
crowd  saw  a  little  while  before  borne,  a  mere 
wreck,  into  a  neighboring  house,  was  now  seen 
making  his  way  out  of  the  door,  bearing  his  bed 
upon  his  back.  The  people  were  all  amazed,  and 
glorified  God.  Well  did  they  say  to  one  another  : 
''We  never  saw  anything  like  this  before  !" 

It  was  such  incidents  as  this,  connected  with  the 
great  influence  which  Jesus  was  gaining  with  the 
common  people,  that  made  the  Pharisees  rather  shy 
of  him.  He  was  becoming  too  powerful  to  be  let 
alone.  Yet  they  did  not  often  venture  to  confront 
him.  Whenever  they  did  cavil  to  his  face,  they 
were  sure  to  get  the  worst  of  it.  For  the  most 
part,  they  only  watched  him.  They  only  looked, 
in  silence ;  but  he  would  not  suffer  them  to  look 
their  ill-will  even ;  he  read  their  thoughts  in  their 
looks,  and  overwhelmed  them  with  the  resistless 
force  of  Truths  When  they  did  not  dare  to  speak 
to  him,  they  went  to  those  who  were  known  as  his 
particular  friends.  "  Why,"  they  inquired  on  one 
occasion,  of  his  disciples,  "  why  does  he  keep  com- 
9* 


102  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

pany  with  publicans  and  men  of  no  character?" 
Publicans,  tax-gatherers,  whose  office  was  so  odious 
that,  for  the  most  part,  only  men  of  the  meanest 
description,  renegades,  would  accept  it.  How 
pointed  his  words  when  he  was  told  of  this  inquiry  ! 
'  The  well  need  not  a  physician,  only  the  sick.  I 
am  come,  not  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners,  to 
repentance.'  The  Pharisees,  punctilious  in  rites 
and  sacrifices,  had  yet  to  learn  the  meaning  of 
these  words :  I  will  have  humanity  rather  than 
sacrifice. 

Again,  in  the  spirit  of  the  ruling  sect,  he  was 
asked  why,  whil^e  the  Pharisees  and  the  disciples  of 
John  observed  fasts,  he  enjoined  no  observances  of 
the  kind  upon  those  who  had  attached  themselves 
to  him.  The  disciples  of  John  were  probably 
fasting  at  that  time  on  account  of  the  imprisonment 
of  their  master.  '  Can  the  attendants  at  a  bridal 
fast,'  he  asked  in  reply,  ^when  the  bridegroom  is 
in  their  midst  ?  But  the  time  will  come,  when  the 
bridegroom  will  be  taken  from  them,  and  then  they 
will  fast.'  His  disciples  then  were  excited  by  the 
most  joyous  expectations.  They  were  hoping  that 
he  would  shower  upon  them  the  riches  and  honors 
of  the  coming  kingdom.  They  regarded  him  as 
the  attendants  at  a  wedding  look  upon  the  bride- 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  103 

groom.  All  was  tli-en  going  on  with  them  gaily 
as  a  marriage  bell.  But  this  state  of  things  — 
this  career  of  popularity  —  was  not  destined ''to 
last  long;  and  we  see  here  how  early  his  mind 
was  visited  with  a  presentiment  of  his  death.  It  is 
as  if  he  had  said':  ^  Do  not  talk  about  my  disciples 
fasting  now,  while  I  am  with  them,  a  fountain  of 
joy  and  hope.  By  and  by,  I  shall  be  taken  from 
them,  and  then  they  will  really  fast.'-  He  then 
proceeded  to  intimate  that  it  was  wholly  out  of 
season  for  his  disciples  to  fast  then.  They  were  not 
in  a  state  for  such  sad  observances.  The  idea  was 
incongruous ;  like  putting  new  wine  into  old  wine- 
skins, or  new  cloth  into  old  garments.  The  bright 
hopes  of  the  hour  and  the  austerities  of  fasting  had 
no  consonance. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    SABBATH  —  THE    PENITENT  WOMAN  —  A    SIGN 

PHARISEES   BLASPHEME BREAD    OF    HEAVEN 

VISIT    TO   JERUSALEM THE    TEMPLE  — NICO- 

DEMUS  —  SAMARITAN    WOMAN THE     NATIONAL 

FESTIVALS. 

We  have  seen  that,  at  the  commencement  of  his 
public  life,  Jesus  grew  rapidly  in  the  goodwill  of 
the  people.  They  regarded  him  with  great  favor. 
Indeed,  their  enthusiasm  was  continually  rising  to 
such  a  height  that  it  obstructed  his  simple  work ; 
and  he  was  again  and  again  compelled  to  suspend 
his  labors,  lest,  in  the  ardor  of  their  faith  and 
hopes,  they  should  engage  in  some  tumultuous 
movement,  of  which  they  might  expect  him  to  take 
the  lead.  This  popularity  alone  was  sufficient  cause 
for  the  hostility  evinced  towards  him  by  the  ruling 
religious  teachers.  But  when,  in  addition  to  this, 
(104) 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  105 

he  spoke  of  tliem  in  terms  of  the  severest  rebuke 
and  indignation,  when  he  warned  the  people  against 
their  false  pretences,  and  when  he  discomfited  their 
machinations,  and  convicted  individuals  of  this 
class  of  their  evil  designs,  their  bitterest  hatred 
was  awakened,  and,  boiling  with  rage,  thej  resolved 
upon  his  destruction. 

There  was  no  respect  in  which  they  were  more 
eager  to  ensnare  him  and  bring  him  into  disrepute, 
than  in  regard  to  the  Sabbath,  which  was  held  in 
such  superstitious  reverence  that,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  people  would  not  bring  the  sick  to  Jesus  to  be 
healed  on  the  Sabbath,  but  waited  till  the  sun  was 
down,  lest  the  day  should  be  profaned.  We  find 
Pharisees  watching  him  again  and  again,  to  see  if 
he  would  break  the  Sabbath  by  healing  on  that  day. 
He  never  denied  the  obligation  or  questioned  the 
propriety  of  observing  the  day,  but  he  declared 
that  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  not  man  for 
the  Sabbath, — that  the  form  must  be  accommodated 
to  the  spirit. 

Once,  when  he  was  teaching  in  a  synagogue, 
there  was  a  man  present  who  had  lost  the  use  of 
his  right  hand.  Certain  Pharisees,  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  synagogue,  and  occupying  conspicuous 
places,  were  on  the  watch.     It  was  easy,  I  suppose, 


106  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

for  any  one,  —  certainly  so  for  Jesus,  —  to  perceive 
tlie  evil  motive  by  which  they  were  actuated.  He 
saw  that  they  would  willingly  destroy  him,  if  they 
could.  But  he  kept  no  terms  with  them.  He  bade 
the  man,  whose  hand  was  w^ithered,  stand  forth  in 
the  presence  of  the  whole  assembly.  When  all 
were  waiting  in  breathless  and  pin-drop  silence  to 
see  what  he  would  do  next,  he  turned  to  those  evil- 
disposed  men,  who  were  thirsting  for  his  blood,  and 
asked  them,  in  effect,  '  Which  now  is  breaking  the 
Sabbath,  you  or  I?  I,  who  mean  to  do  good  and 
relieve  this  man,  or  you,  who  are  bent  on  my  de- 
struction ?'  No  answer  was  given  to  this  question. 
What  answer  could  be  given?  He  paused;  and, 
after  fixing  a  look  of  mingled  grief  and  indignation 
on  those  depraved  men,  he  turned  again  to  the  man 
with  a  withered  hand,  and,  with  that  commanding 
tone  which  must  have  been  altogether  peculiar  to 
him,  beggaring  all  description,  he  said  to  him: 
*  Stretch  forth  your  hand.'  And  the  man,  over- 
powered, stimulated,  inspired,  by  that  grand  au- 
thority, stretched  out  his  hand,  and  it  was  strong 
like  the  other !  By  thus  laying  bare  their  false- 
hood in  the  full  splendor  of  his  truth  and  power, 
Jesus  offended  the  Pharisees,  on  that  occasion,  if 
on  no  other,  past  all  forgiveness. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  107 

Again,  at  another  time,  when  he  was  teaching  in 
one  of  the  synagogues  on  a  Sabbath,  there  was  a 
woman  present  who  had  for  eighteen  years  been  so 
bent  down  by  disease,  —  a  species  of  rheumatism, 
probably,  —  that  she  could  not  raise  her  body  to  a 
straight  position.  She  had,  no  doubt,  been  long 
considered  incurable.  But  Jesus  spoke  to  her, 
telling  her  that  her  infirmity  was  at  an  end,  and 
laying  both  his  hands  on  her ;  at  which  she  was  im- 
mediately enabled  to  straighten  herself  up.  The 
instantaneous  cure  of  this  woman,  long  known  for 
her  infirmity,  caused,  of  course,  a  great  sensation. 
The  stir,  which  it  made  on  the  spot,  must  have 
broken  in  upon  the  usual  monotonous  decorum  of 
the  place  and  the  day ;  for  the  ruling  oflScer  of  the 
synagogue  was  enraged  at  the  apparent  desecration, 
and  told  the  crowd  that  there  were  six  days  for 
work ;  and  that  then,  and  not  on  the  Sabbath, 
people  should  come  and  be  healed.  At  this,  Jesus 
turned  to  the  man  with  warmth,  and  exclaimed; 
*  Thou  hypocrite !  does  not  every  one  of  you  go 
and  loose  his  ox  or  his  ass  on  the  Sabbath,  and 
lead  him  away  to  watering  ?  And  is  not  this  wo- 
man, a  daughter  of  Abraham,  a  sufierer  for  eighteen 
years,  to  be  loosed  from  this  crushing  infirmity  on 
the  Sabbath  ?'    Thus  he  confounded  his  adversaries, 


108  HISTOKY    OF    JESUS. 

and  the  people  exulted  in  tlie  wonderful  things 
which  he  did  and  said.  As  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
attending  the  synagogues  on  the  Sabbath,  incidents 
similar  to  the  foregoing  occurred  frequently.  On 
these  occasions,  he  did  not  merely  defend  himself, 
he  assailed  and  overwhelmed  all  opposition. 

Once,  teachers  of  the  Law  and  Pharisees  from 
Jerusalem,  accosted  him,  and  wished  to  know  why 
his  disciples  disregarded  the  traditions  of  the  elders, 
neglecting  to  wash  their  hands  before  eating.  With 
what  power  did  he  retort  upon  these  questioners ! 
"Why  do  you,"  he  demanded  in  reply,  "set  aside 
the  commandment  of  God,  for  your  tradition  ?  God 
hath  said :  Honor  thy  father  and  mother ;  and  who- 
so honoreth  not  father  or  mother,  let  him  die  the 
death ;  but  you  say  that,  if  a  man  will  give  to  the 
service  of  the  Temple  what  he  might  use  for  the 
support  of  his  parents,  he  shall  be  discharged  from 
his  duty  to  them.  Well  did  the  prophet  say  of 
you:  This  people  draw  nigh  to  me  with  their 
mouths,  and  honor  me  with  their  lips,  whilst  their 
hearts  are  far  from  me.  But  in  vain  do  they  worship 
me,  teaching  for  truths  the  commandments  of  men." 
Upon  this  occasion,  Jesus  appears  to  have  been  so  ^ 
impressed  by  the  hollow  outsideness  of  the  religious 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  109 

teacliers  of  the  day,  who  were  so  scrupulous  about 
washing  their  hands,  lest  they  should  be  defiled, 
while  their  hearts  were  polluted  with  all  manner  of 
evil,  that  he  took  pains  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
people,  and  said  to  them :  "  Hearken  to  me,  every 
one  of  you,  and  understand :  There  is  nothing  from 
without  a  man  that,  entering  into  him,  can  defile 
him ;  but  the  things  which  come  out  of  him,  those 
are  they  that  defile  the  man,"  (the  wicked  thoughts 
that  proceed  out  of  his  heart.)  "  If  any  man  have 
ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear."  *Do  you  know,'  said 
his  friends  to  him  after  he  had  said  this,  ^  that  the 
Pharisees  were  ofi'ended  at  what  you  said?'  He 
replied,  in  efi'ect,  'What  if  they  were?  Every- 
thing that  is  not  founded  in  Truth,  planted  by  God, 
will  be  rooted  up.  Let  them  alone ;  they  are  blind 
leaders  of  the  blind.  And  when  the  blind  lead  the 
blind,  both  must  fall  into  the  ditch.'  He  saw 
that,  under  the  blind  guidance  of  their  established 
teachers,  the  people  must  be  led  on  to  ruin.  Here 
was  one  of  the  signs  of  the  times,  in  which  he  read 
the  coming  doom  of  the  nation. 

But  the  Pharisees,  though  depraved  as  a  body, 

were  not  all  lost  to  a  sense  of  truth.     Some  among 

them,  we  are   told,  were  favorably  impressed   by 

the  words  and  works  of  Jesus,  though  they  were 

10 


110  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

too  timid  to  avow  it  openly.  Such  an  one  was 
Nicodemus,  wlio  went  to  visit  Jesus  by  night,  and 
who  was  disposed  to  defend  him  in  the  meetings  of 
his  sect.  Such  an  one,  also,  was  the  Pharisee, 
Simon,  who  showed  so  much  goodwill  to  Jesus,  as 
to  invite  him  to  his  house,  where  that  touching 
scene  occurred,  in  which  a  woman  of  notoriously 
bad  character  bore  so  conspicuous  a  part. 

Who  can  contemplate  that  scene  without  emotion? 
I  suppose  that,  whenever  Jesus  was  known  to  be  in 
any  house,  the  ordinary  rules  of  propriety  were  sus- 
pended, and  the  place  was,  perforce,  thrown  open 
to  strangers.  A  poor,  heart-broken  creature,  heed- 
less of  the  scorn  of  those  who  shrunk  from  her  as 
if  her  touch  were  contamination,  followed  Jesus  into 
the  house,  and,  placing  herself  behind  the  couch  on 
which,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  country, 
he  lay  reclined  at  table,  bent  down  and  kissed  his 
feet,  upon  w^hich  her  streaming  tears  fell,  which 
she  wiped  away  with  that  dishevelled  hair,  once,  I 
suppose,  her  pride,  but  now  left  to  flow  down  all 
unregarded.  She  anointed  his  feet,  also,  with  a 
fragrant  ointment.  The  Pharisee,  hospitable  though 
he  was,  was  shocked  that  his  guest  should  allow 
such  a  woman  to  touch  him.  Jesus  perceived  the 
thoughts  of  his  host,  and  said  to  him :  "  Simon,  I 


HISTOEY    or    JESUS.  Ill 

have  something  to  say  to  you."  Simon  said, 
"Master,  say  on."  "There  was  a  certain  cre- 
ditor," said  Jesus,  "who  had  two  debtors,  one  of 
whom  owed  him  five  hundred  pence,  and  the  other 
fifty.  And  when  they  had  nothing  to  pay,  he 
frankly  forgave  them  both.  Tell  me  now  which 
will  love  him  most  ?"  Simon  answered,  "  I  suppose 
that  he  to  whom  he  forgave  most."  Jesus  said  to 
him,  "  Thou  hast  rightly  judged."  And  then, 
turning  to  the  woman,  "  Seest  thou  this  woman?" 
he  continued ;  "  When  I  entered  thy  house,  thou 
gavest  me  no  water  for  my  feet,  but  she  has  washed 
my  feet  with  tears,  and  wiped  them  with  the  hairs 
of  her  head.  Thou  gavest  me  no  kiss,  but  this 
woman,  since  the  time  I  came  in,  has  not  ceased  to 
kiss  my  feet.  My  head  with  oil  thou  didst  not 
anoint,  but  this  woman  hath  anointed  my  feet  with 
ointment.  "Wherefore  I  say  unto  you,  her  sins, 
numerous  as  they  were,  are  forgiven, — she  is  a  for- 
given woman ;  the  deep  emotion  she  evinces,  in 
revealing  her  penitence,  shows  also  that  she  is 
forgiven,  and  is  to  be  received  and  treated  accord- 
ingly." And  then  he  bade  the  woman  go  in  peace ; 
assuring  her  that  she  was  forgiven,  and  that  the 
faith  she  had  shown  in  him  was  the  pledge  of  that. 
If,  as  there  is  some  ground  for  supposing,  Simon 


112  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

had  been  healed  of  leprosy,  perhaps  by  Jesus,  then 
the  contrast,  drawn  between  this  woman  and  his 
host,  is  rendered  more  pointed.  ^If,  in  being 
healed  of  your  leprosy,'  Jesus  may  be  understood 
as  saying,  ^  you  deem  yourself  forgiven  for  the  sins 
of  which  you  considered  the  leprosy  as  a  punish- 
ment, and,  in  testimony  of  your  thankfulness,  you 
have  invited  me  to  your  house,  how  much  more 
manifest  is  it  that  this  woman  is  forgiven,  whose 
gratitude  is  so  expressive  !' 

Another  instance,  of  a  Pharisee,  not  only  kindly 
disposed  towards  Jesus,  but  open  to  the  force  of 
Truth,  is  presented  in  that  teacher  of  the  Law, 
who,  after  listening  to  him,  broke  forth  in  assent 
and  commendation  ;  and  of  whom  Jesus  himself 
remarked,  that  he  was  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of 
God. 

And  even  the  most  bitter  and  determined  of  those 
opposing  religionists  seem  at  times  to  have  given 
way  before  the  mighty  power  of  his  truth.  This  I 
infer  from  their  asking  him  for  a  sign.  The  Jews 
appear  to  have  expected  that,  when  their  Messiah 
should  appear,  he  would  make  some  signal,  —  give 
a  sign,  whereby  he  might  be  recognized  beyond 
the   possibility  of  a  mistake.      What  the  precise 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  113 

iiature  of  this  sign  was  to  be,  we  have  no  means  of 
determining.  It  was,  I  imagine,  some  miraculous 
appearance,  corresponding  to  the  established  idea 
of  the  expected  Deliverer,  as  a  temporal  prince, 
and  rendering  the  "claims  of  him  who  should  give  it 
indubitable.  That  this  expectation  of  a  sign  ex- 
isted, is  evident  from  the  words  of  Paul:  "The 
Jews  require  a  sign."  On  more  than  one  occa- 
sion, Pharisees  went  to  Jesus  and  demanded  of  him 
a  sign.  And  it  is  observable  that  this  request  was 
always  made  just  after  he  had  done  some  very  won- 
derful thing. 

Once,  a  man  was  brought  to  Jesus,  afflicted  with 
a  disease  which  deprived  him  of  sight  and  speech ; 
and  supposed,  of  course,  according  to  the  universal 
belief  of  the  people,  to  be  under  the  influence  of 
an  evil  spirit.  In  the  presence  of  a  crowd,  Jesus 
healed  the  man.  The  cure  was  so  sudden  and  so 
complete,  that  the  people,  overwhelmed  with  won- 
der, began  to  say  aloud,  that  he  who  had  wrought 
such  a  cure  must  be  the  anointed  Leader, —  the  son 
of  David.  Some  Pharisees,  who  were  present, 
enraged  at  hearing  such  things  said,  and  driven  to 
extremities,  exclaimed :  '  No  ;  this  man  must  be  in 
league  with  evil  spirits,  —  with  the  very  prince  of 
them,  Beelzebub  himself;'  by  thus  ascribing  the 
10* 


114  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

cure  he  had  wrought  to  the  chief  of  evil  spirits, 
virtually  admitting  that  it  was  far  above  the  ordi- 
nary power  of  man.  In  answer  to  this  charge, 
Jesus  poured  forth  a  boiling  torrent  of  indignant 
truth.  ^  Every  kingdom,'  said'  he,  ^  every  city, 
every  house,  at  war  with  itself,  is  brought  to  ruin. 
If  Satan  cast  out  Satan,  how  can  his  power  stand  ? 
If  it  is  by  his  aid  that  I  have  relieved  this  man, 
where  do  your  exorcists  get  their  power?  Let 
them  condemn  you.  But  if  I  cast  out  spirits  by 
the  power  of  God,  then  is  the  kingdom  of  God 
come  among  you.  What  says  the  common  proverb  ? 
—  He  that  is  not  with  me  is  against  me.  This 
shows  that,  as  I  evidently  am  not  with  Satan,  I 
must  be  against  him.  But  you  are  incorrigible. 
You  virtually  confess  that  the  power  I  have  exer- 
cised is  far  above  the  power  of  man,  but  you  blas- 
pheme it.  You  call  the  evident  power  of  God  the 
power  of  the  Devil.  What  can  reach  you,  when 
you  thus  defame  God  himself?  You  are  past  for- 
giveness ;  for  you  cannot  be  changed  that  you  may 
be  forgiven,  if  the  acknowledged  power  of  God 
cannot  move  you.  You  might  speak  against  me,  a 
man,  and  be  forgiven ;  but  when  you  speak  thus 
against  God  himself,  it  is  unpardonable.  There  is 
no  hope  of  you  now  or  ever.*  But  what  else  is  to 
*  See  Note  I. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  115 

be  expected  of  joii  ?  It  is  in  vain  to  look  for  good 
from  the  lips  of  those  whose  hearts  are  so  depraved. 
If  the  tree  is  good,  the  fruit  will  be  good ;  if  the 
tree  is  bad,  so  is  the  fruit.  0  ye  vipers  !  how  can 
ye,  being  evil,  speak  good  things  ?  Out  of  the  evil 
in  your  hearts  your  mouths  speak.' 

I  think  it  very  plain  that  Jesus  expressed  himself, 
on  this  occasion,  with  the  greatest  earnestness.  He 
is  to  be  understood,  not  as  speaking  to  the  letter, 
but  as  pouring  forth,  in  the  strong,  unqualified 
language  of  deep  emotion,  the  indignation  of  a 
heart  shocked  to  its  very  centre  at  the  exhibition 
of  such  inveterate  perversity. 

But,  notwithstanding,  these  Pharisees  immedi- 
ately showed  some  evidence  of  relenting.  They 
asked  for  a  sign ;  as  much  as  to  say,  *  It  must  be 
confessed,  you  say  and  do  wonderful  things,  give  us 
now  a  sign ;  this  is  all  we  need  to  satisfy  us.'  The 
sign  required  was,  of  course,  some  miracle  in  con- 
formity with  their  conceptions  of  what  the  Messiah 
was  to  be,  a  military  leader  and  political  deliverer. 
But  as  this  was  not  the  character  in  which  Jesus 
appeared,  such  a  sign  as  was  demanded  could  not, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  be  given.  He  told  them 
that  no  sign  would  be  given  them,  except  one  draAvn 
from  the  history  of  the  humblest  of  the  prophets ; 


116  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

between  whose  fortunes  and  his  own  death  and 
resurrection,  there  would  prove  to  be  a  resemblance. 
That  would  be  the  most  expressive  sign  that  he 
could  give,  or  they  receive,  of  his  authority. 

That  Jesus  himself  regarded  the  request  of  the 
Pharisees  for  a  sign  as  an  evidence  that  they  w^cre 
disposed  to  yield  —  that  their  unbelief  was  giving 
way  for  the  moment  at  least,  I  infer  from  his  own 
words.  He  proceeded  to  describe  the  state  of  a  man 
possessed  with  an  evil  spirit,  —  how  the  evil  spirit 
appears  to  leave  the  man  for  aw^hile,  and  then  re- 
turn again  with  sevenfold  fury.  Perhaps  such  had 
been  the  condition  of  the  very  person  whom  he  had 
just  relieved.  In  this  description,  he  portrayed 
also  the  Pharisees,  who  might  seem  for  awhile  to  be 
deserted  by  the  evil  spirit  of  unbelief,  but  still  there 
was  no  dependence  to  be  placed  on  their  cure.  The 
moral  disease  would  return  in  an  aggravated  form, 
and  they  would  be  worse  than  ever. 

Is  it  not  evident  that  Jesus  was  profoundly 
moved?  So  absorbed  was  he  in  what  he  was 
saying,  that  when  some  one,  heedless  of  what  was 
going  on,  or  wishing  to  interrupt  him,  called  out  to 
him,  '  while  he  was  yet  talking,'  and  told  him  that 
his  mother  and  brothers  were  standing  outside  the 
crowd,   desiring  to  speak  with  him ;  —  they  were 


HISTOEY    OF    JESUS.  117 

alarmed,  probably,  at  the  stir  that  was  made,  and 
wished  to  persuade  him  to  go  home  with  them ;  — 
he  appeared  to  forget  that  he  had  a  mother  or 
brothers ;  not  that  his  heart,  that  yearned  towards 
his  mother  amidst  the  blood,  and  torture,  and 
death-sweat  of  the  Cross,  was  wanting  in  filial  love ; 
but  at  the  moment,  and  for  the  moment  only,  lost 
to  everything  but  a  sense  of  the  Truth  with  which 
his  mind  was  filled,  he  forgot  his  nearest  natural 
ties.  What  a  divine  touch  of  Nature  is  here ! 
"Who  is  my  mother?"  he  exclaimed;  "and  who 
are  my  brothers?"  And  then,  pointing  to  his 
friends,  he  added,  "Behold  my  mother  and  my 
brothers !  for  whosoever  will  do  the  will  of  my 
Father  in  Heaven,  the  same  is  my  mother  and 
sister  and  brother."  He  loved  his  mother,  and  was 
ready  to  render  her  all  that  was  due  to  her.  But 
he  loved  Truth  and  humanity  and  the  will  of  God 
more ;  these  he  loved  with  transcendent  devo- 
tion. 

It  was  on  this  occasion,  as  I  suppose,  and  as  I 
have  elsewhere  stated,  that  a  woman  in  the  crowd, 
upon  hearing  his  mother  mentioned,  broke  forth  in 
blessing  her,  who  had  borne  such  a  son.  The  way 
in  which  he  received  this  woman's  benediction  of 
his  mother  discloses,  I  think,  the  same  absorption 


118  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

of  mind  in  liim,  which  is  apparent  in  the  foregoing 
scene.  He  turned  to  her,  and  said,  in  effect :  '  Do 
you  call  my  mother  blessed?  Blessed  rather  are 
you,  if  you  listen  to  the  Truth  of  God  and  keep 
it." 

Three  or  four  times,  the  request  for  a  sign  was 
repeated.  Something  was  evidently  wanted,  which 
should  be,  not  a  mere  exhibition  of  extraordinary 
power,  but  such  an  act  as  would  show  Jesus  to  be 
such  a  person  as  the  nation  was  waiting  for.  This 
request,  always  coming  immediately  after  he  had 
done  something  wonderful,  laid  bare  the  obstinacy 
with  which  the  people  were  clinging  to  the  idea  of 
a  political  deliverer.  It  showed  that  nothing  he 
had  done  or  could  do  would  satisfy  them,  unless  he 
assumed  the  character  upon  which  their  hearts 
were  set.  It  showed  him  that  the  attempt  to  dis- 
abuse them  of  this  false  expectation  was  well  nigh 
hopeless.  Accordingly,  once,  when  certain  Phari- 
sees desired  of, him  a  sign,  we  are  told  that  he 
"sighed  deeply,"  and  exclaimed,  "Why  does  this 
generation  seek  after  a  sign  ?  I  solemnly  declare 
there  will  no  sign  be  given  them." 

Once,  when,  by  the  extraordinary  power  with 
which  he  is  so  abundantly  sho-^vn  to  have  been  en- 
dowed, he  had,  with  a  few  loaves  and  fishes,  fed  and 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  119 

refreshed  the  exhausted  multitude  who  had  followed 
him  out  into  the  desert  and  remained  with  him 
whole  days,  he  was  asked  for  a  sign.  It  was  said 
to  him,  '  You  have  certainly  fed  us  very  wonder- 
fully ;  but  this  is  not  enough  to  satisfy  us  that  you 
are  the  Messiah,  for  you  ought  to  do  as  much  or 
more  than  Moses  did.  You  have  not  done  as  much 
as  he.  He  fed  our  fathers,  in  the  wilderness,  with 
bread  of  Heaven.'  The  manna,  upon  which  the 
Israelites  were  fed  in  the  desert,  now  known  to  be 
a  natural  production,  was  supposed  to  have  fallen 
from  heaven.  To  this  Jesus  replied  with  emphasis, 
'  Moses  did  not  give  you  the  true  bread  of  heaven ; 
but  the  true  bread  of  heaven,  my  Father  is  giving 
you  now.'  Then  they  said  to  him,  'Master,  give 
us  this  bread  always.'  And  he  said,  ''  I  am  the 
living  bread.  He  that  comes  to  me  will  never 
hunger,  and  he  that  believes  me  will  never  thirst." 
Amplifying  the  figure  of  bread,  thus  naturally  sug- 
gested, he  proceeded  to  allude  to  his  death ;  declaring 
that  he  was  about  to  give  himself  up  wholly,  body 
and  blood,  for  the  sake  of  Truth,  to  feed  the  world. 
But  the  people  could  not  understand  him.  They 
took  his  words  to  the  letter.  His  spiritual  meaning 
escaped  them,  and  they  murmured  then-  difficulties. 
He  told  them  that  it  was  in  vain  that  they  mur- 


120  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

mured ;  that  they  could  not  be  expected  to  under- 
stand him ;  that  they  came  after  hiuT  only  from  a 
vague  curiosity,  to  witness  wonders,  and  with  selfish 
aims  and  hopes.  It  was  impossible  that,  in  this 
state  of  their  minds,  they' should  understand  what 
he  was  saying.  No  one  could  understand  him, 
unless  he  was  inspired  by  the  same  spirit  with  him- 
self.* His  discourse  on  this  occasion  was  so  unsatis- 
factory, that  many,  disappointed  and  shocked, 
ceased  from  following  him  any  longer;  so  many, 
indeed,  that  he  appears  to  have  contemplated  the 
defection  even  of  those  who  had  attended  him  the 
most  faithfully ;  for  he  said  to  the  chosen  twelve, 
"Will  ye  also  leave  me?"  Simon  Peter,  ever  for- 
ward to  speak  for  the  rest,  replied,  "Master,  to 
whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal 
Hfe." 

But  what  particularly  strikes  me  in  this  passage 
of  his  history,  is  that,  when  asked  for  a  sign,  he 
was  led,  as  on  all  the  other  occasions  when  a  sign 
was  required,  to  allude  to  his  death.  That,  he 
truly  and  very  naturally  represented  as  the  greatest 
sign  that  he  could  possibly  give  of  his  truth.  He 
was  about  to  give  up  his  life ;  he  could  do  nothing 
more  or  greater,  to  prove  that  he  was  true  and 
heaven-sent. 

*  See  Note  J. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  121 

As  I  have  already  remarked,  it  is  not  easy  to 
determine  the  dm-ation  of  the  public  labors  of 
Jesus.  The  shortest  time  that  has  been  assigned, 
and  the  most  probable,  for  the  length  of  his  public 
life,  is  a  little  more  than  one  year.  Some  suppose 
that  he  went  about,  teaching  and  working  miracles, 
three  or  four  years.  The  opposition  which  was 
made  to  him,  and  which  his  fearless  speech  must 
have  greatly  exasperated,  was  too  malignant  and 
too  powerful  to  permit  of  his  continuing  long  un- 
harmed. I  gather,  that  the  greater  part  of  his  time 
was  spent  in  Galilee,  and  at  a  distance  from  the 
metropolis,  Jerusalem,  where  the  influence  of  the 
Pharisees  was  most  formidable.  He  visited  Jerusa^ 
lem,  however,  upon  the  occasion  of  the  grand 
national  festivals,  of  which  there  were  four  every 
year.  But  it  was  perilous  remaining  there  long. 
His  enemies  there  were  powerful  and  on  the  alert. 

At  an  early  period  after  his  appearance  in  public, 
he  went  to  Jerusalem  to  attend  at  the  Passover. 
On  this  visit,  he  attracted  great  attention  by  the 
extraordinary  things  which  he  did.  At  Jerusalem, 
as  well  as  elsewhere,  his  steps  were  thronged.  He 
•\dsited  the  Temple,  where  he  found  that  the  money- 
changers, who  furnished  those  who  came  from  a 
11 


122  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

distance  and  wished  to  pay  their  dues  to  the  Tem- 
ple, with  the  current  coin  of  Jerusalem,  and  the 
tradesmen,  who  supplied  persons,  resorting  to  the 
Temple  to  render  their  offerings  and  sacrifices,  with 
oxen,  sheep,  and  doves,  had  encroached  upon  the 
sanctity  of  the  place,  setting  up  their  stalls  and 
tables  within  its  very  precincts.  Shocked  by  so 
glaring  a  desecration  of  a  spot  set  apart  for  worship 
and  prayer,  he  bade  these  people  retire.  "  Make 
not,"  said  he,  "my  Father's  house  a  place  of 
trade."  And  with  this,  he  took  a  piece  of  cord, 
which,  considering  the  cattle  collected  there,  we 
may  readily  suppose  lay  at  hand,  and,  folding  it 
into  a  whip,  drove  these  desecrators  from  the  place. 
Although  he  could  not  have  taken  the  whip  without 
intending  to  use  it,  there  could  hardly  have  been 
any  occasion  for  its  use,  except  to  drive  away  the 
oxen  and  sheep.  For  the  tradespeople  must  have 
been  conscious  that  they  had  no  right  to  be  there, 
and  the  concern  which  Jesus  showed  for  the  sanc- 
tity of  the  Temple,  was  well  fitted  to  enlist  the 
feelings  of  the  Jewish  populace,  even  if  they  were 
not  already  awakened,  in  his  favor.  At  the  first 
intimation  of  the  purpose  of  one  who  had  a  crowd 
to  support  him,  the  tradesmen  retreated  with  pre- 
cipitation.    A  scene  of  temporary  confusion  ensued. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  123 

Tables  were  overturned,  and  money  was  scattered 
on  the  ground.  This  proceeding  could  not  fail  to 
make  a  great  impression.  The  fact  that  a  solitary 
individual  apparently,  without  any  official  authority, 
had  accomplished  such  a  reform  so  speedily,  bore 
witness  to  his  power.  He  was  immediately  asked 
for  a  sign.  It  was  so  much  in  character  with  the 
popular  idea  of  the  Messiah,  that  he  should  be 
zealous  for  the  purification  of  the  Temple,  that 
they  wanted  in  addition  only  such  a  sign  as  they 
asked  for,  to  be  fully  satisfied  that  Jesus  was  the 
person  they  were  expecting.  To  this  request,  he 
returned  substantially  the  same  answer  that  he  gave 
whenever  a  sign  was  demanded ;  making  an  obscure 
allusion  to  his  death  and  resurrection. 

On  the  whole,  a  very  favorable  impression  was 
made  by  him,  on  this  visit  to  Jerusalem.  Many  who 
saw  and  heard  him  were  inclined  to  believe  in  him. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  a  leading  Pharisee,  Nico- 
demus,  made  him  a  visit ;  —  private,  indeed,  under 
the  shadow  of  night,  but  still  most  momentous,  as 
it  has  proved,  for  thousands  and  thousands  of  men, 
through  long  generations.  He  sought  to  speak 
with  Jesus  in  private,  but  centuries  overheard  him. 
Little  dreamed  the  Jewish  elder,  that  the  words 
that  fell  from  the  lips  of  Jesus,  at  that  interview, 


124  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

were  to  sound  through  the  world,  in  countless 
churches,  for  centuries,  as  the  expression  of  truths 
of  the  deepest  import  to  every  soul  of  man,  as,  in- 
deed, they  are.  Those  words  have  been  taken  up 
as  the  formula  of  a  doctrine,  and  made  the  occasion 
of  mysticism  and  fanaticism  without  end.  And  yet 
nothing  could  well  be  more  natural,  more  accordant 
with  the  character  and  circumstances  of  the  parties, 
than  the  conversation  which  took  place  that  evening 
between  Jesus  and  Nicodemus. 

It  is  reported  by  John,  the  dearest  friend  of 
Jesus.  He  was,  I  suppose,  present.  And  although 
I  do  not  imagine  there  was  any  one  of  the  friends 
of  Jesus  better  qualified,  both  by  character  and 
acquaintance  with  Jesus,  to  give  a  faithful  report 
of  his  words,  yet  I  think  it  apparent  that  John  has 
given  the  conversation  in  his  own  way.  Much,  in 
his  account  of  the  interview,  which  seems  at  first 
sight  to  be  attributed  by  John  to  Jesus,  has  been 
supposed,  and  I  think  justly,  to  be  the  remarks  of 
John  himself.  Still,  it  is  by  no  means  difficult  to 
gather  from  John's  account  the  substance  of  what 
Jesus  said  to  the  Jewish  ruler.* 

Nicodemus  began  with  declaring  to  Jesus  his 
conviction  that  he  was  a  true  man,  sent  from  God. 
He  evidently  wished  to  be  informed  respecting  the 
*  See  Note  K. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  125 

coming  kingdom.  •  Jesus  told  him  that  it  was  so 
entirely  different  from  what  the  Jews  were  univer- 
sally expecting,  that  a  man  must  be  made  over 
again,  ''born  again,"  in  order  to  understand  it. 
As  a  Jew,  Nicodemus  was  familiar  with  this  lan- 
guage, in  application  to  Gentile  proselytes  to  Juda- 
ism, but  he  was  at  a  loss  to  know  how  it  could  be 
applied  to  Jews,  the  destined  heirs  of  the  promised 
kingdom ;  and  by  reverting  to  the  literal  meaning 
of  the  phrase,  he  virtually  asked  for  an  explanation, 
Jesus  replied :  '  I  do  not,  of  course,  mean  that  you 
must  literally  be  born  again ;  for  what  is  born  of 
the  flesh  is  flesh,  and  what  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is 
Spirit.  A  man  must  be  born  again,  not  merely, 
like  your  proselytes,  by  a  baptism  of  water,  but 
by  a  spiritual  baptism.  Wonder  not  that  I  say, 
you  must  be  born  again.  You  need  not  ask  how 
it  can  be.  The  spirit  of  truth,  by  whose  influence 
a  man  is  renewed,  comes  and  goes  like  the  wind, 
the  sound  of  which  you  hear,  but  you  cannot  tell 
whence  it  comes  or  whither  it  goes.  So  is  it  with 
every  one  who  is  spiritually  born.  You  cannot 
tell  how  it  is ;  but,  that  this  new  birth  of  the  spirit 
is  real,  is  as  obvious  as  the  sound  of  the  wind.' 

Nicodemus   being   still  at  a  loss  to  understand 
what  was  meant,  Jesus  expressed  his  surprise  that 
11* 


126  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

a  Rabbi  in  Israel  should  be  ignorant  of  such  simple 
truths.  Although  Nicodemus  retired  with  very 
little  satisfaction,  still,  his  friendliness  to^svards 
Jesus  Tvas  not  abated,  as  we  afterwards  learn. 
He  evidently  cherished  an  interest  in  him,  which, 
although  he  did  not  publicly  avow  it,  led  him  on 
subsequent  occasions  to  speak  in  his  defence,  and, 
at  the  last,  to  take  part  in  paying  respect  to  his 
remains. 

It  was  on  his  way  back  to  Galilee,  after  this  ^^sit 
to  Jerusalem,  that  Jesus  held  another  conversation 
with  a  stranger,  which,  incidental  as  it  was,  has  yet 
been  heard  all  over  the  world.  The  full  meaning 
of  what  was  said  by  him  then  has  yet  to  be 
fathomed.  I  refer  to  his  conversation  with  the 
woman  of  Samaria. 

In  going  from  Judea  to  Galilee,  he  was  compelled 
to  pass  through  Samaria,  which  lies  between  those 
two  places.  One  day  he  reached  a  well,  where  he 
sate  down  to  rest  himself,  while  the  friends  who 
accompanied  him  went  to  a  neighboring  town  to 
procure  refreshments.  I  suppose  he  was  not  left 
all  alone.  John  probably  remained  with  him. 
"While  he  was  seated  by  the  well,  a  womaji  came,  as 
was  her  wont,  to  draw  water.     He  asked  her  to 


HISTOKY    OF    JESUS.  127 

give  him  to  drink.  The  request  surprised  the  wo- 
man ;  for  the  Samaritans  were  the  special  objects 
of  Jewish  bigotry,  because,  agreeing  with  them  in 
the  main,  they  yet  dared  to  differ  with  the  descend- 
ants of  Abraham ;  and,  of  course,  as  is  ever  the 
way  in  such  cases,  the  animosity  between  the  two 
nations  was  peculiarly  bitter.  The  Christian  sects, 
that  approach  each  other  most  nearly  without  en- 
tirely agreeing,  are  always  the  fiercest  enemies. 
That  a  Jew  should  speak  to  her,  or  even  look  at 
her  —  that  he  should  ask  drink  of  her  —  she  could 
hardly  have  expected.  That  one  of  that  people,  so 
bitter  against  her  nation,  would  sooner  die  of  thirst 
than  be  indebted  to  a  Samaritan  and  a  woman  for 
a  drop  of  water,  was  much  more  likely.  The  wo- 
man expressed  her  astonishment.  In  reply,  Jesus 
told  her  that  if  she  knew  how  Heaven  was  then 
favoring  her,  she  would  have  asked  of  him,  and  he 
would  have  given  her  living  water.  'Where  will 
you  get  the  li\ang  water  that  you  speak  of?'  asked 
she ;  '  You  have  no  means  of  getting  it  from  this 
well,  which  is  deep.  Are  you  greater  than  our 
father  Jacob,  who  gave  us  this  well,  and  drank  of  it 
himself,  and  his  whole  household?  Have  you 
better  water  than  this  spring,  which  has  been  flow- 
ing for  so  many  years V     'He  who  drinks  of  this 


128  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

water,'  replied  Jesus,  *  will  thirst  again ;  but  whoso- 
ever drinks  of  the  water  that  I  will  give  him,  will 
never  thirst ;  but  the  water  that  I  will  give  him  will 
be  a  well  of  water  within  him,  flowing   forever/ 

*  Give  me  some  of  this  water,'   said  the  woman, 

*  that  I  may  never  again  be  thirsty,  or  be  compelled 
to  come  here  to  draw  water.'  Seeing  that  she  did 
not  apprehend  his  meaning,  and  yet  touched  by  her 
simplicity,  he  bade  her  go  and  bring  her  husband. 
*'  I  have  no  husband,"  said  the  woman.  The  extra- 
ordinary knowledge  which  Jesus  then  showed  of 
her  past  life,  filled  her  with  amazement.  She  saw 
at  once  that  she  was  talking  to  no  common  person. 
"  Sir  !"  she  exclaimed,  ^'  I  perceive  that  thou  art  a 
prophet."  And  instantly,  and  very  naturally,  she 
referred  to  him  the  vexed  question  between  her 
countrymen  and  his,  as  to  the  place  where  God  was 
to  be  worshipped;  whether  on  Mount  Gerizim,  as 
the  Samaritans  contended,  or  at  Jerusalem.  Jesus, 
in  answer,  decided,  as  I  suppose  Truth  will  decide 
most  of  our  controversies,  that  neither  was  right ; 
that  the  worship  of  God  is  living,  spiritual,  not 
formal,  not  dependent  on  place  ;  that  the  time  would 
come  when  there  would  be  no  worship  rendered  on 
Mount  Gerizim,  nor  yet  at  Jerusalem;  and  that 
the  Invisible  Father  was  at  that  very  hour  seeking 


HISTaRY    OF    JESUS.  129 

for  such  to  worship  him,  as  would  worship  him 
really  and  spiritually.  The  woman  was  wholly  un- 
able to  take  in  truth,  simple,  yet  so  great :  and  she 
merely  avowed,  in  reply,  her  belief  that  there  was 
one  coming  who  would  explain  everything.  To 
this,  Jesus  answered  explicitly,  "I  that  talk  with 
you  am  he." 

His  friends  had  now  returned  with  the  refresh- 
ments they  had  gone  to  procure,  and  were  surprised 
to  find  him  engaged  in  familiar  conversation  with 
this  Samaritan  woman ;  but  they  said  nothing.  He 
appears  to  have  inspired  them  with  such  reverence 
for  him,  that  they  did  not  presume  to  question  the 
propriety  of  what  he  was  doing.  The  woman,  for- 
getting, in  her  excitement,  her  errand  to  the  well, 
leaving  her  water-jar,  rushed  home  to  call  her 
friends  and  neighbors.  Unconsciously,  she  had 
drunk  of  the  living  water  of  which  Jesus  spoke, 
and  she  thirsted  no  longer  for  the  water  of  the 
well.  "When  she  had  gone,  his  attendants  produced 
the  food  they  had  purchased;  but,  buried  in 
thought,  he  heeded  it  not.  They  begged  him  to 
eat.  But  he  refused.  His  hunger  had  been  satis- 
fied. The  interest  he  had  taken  in  conversing  with 
the  woman,  the  truth  which  had  just  filled  his  mind, 
had  fed  him.     He  too  had  just  been  partaking  of 


130  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

the  living  water  and  the  living  bread.  "I  have 
food,"  said  he,  "that  you  know  not  of."  His  dis- 
ciples, at  a  loss  to  understand  him,  began  to  ques- 
tion whether  some  one  had  not  supplied  his  wants 
during  their  absence ;  for  they  had  left  him  at  the 
well,  tired,  hungry  and  thirsty.  He  explained 
himself.  ^My  food,'  said  he,  *is  to  do  the  will 
of  him  that  sent  me,  and  to  finish  his  work.  This 
it  is,  which  I  have  just  been  engaged  in,  that  has 
refreshed  me.' 

The  woman  now  appeared  in  sight,  returning 
with  a  great  crowd,  attracted  by  the  account  she 
had  given  of  the  wonderful  stranger  at  the  well. 
When  Jesus  saw  the  people  approaching,  he  beheld 
in  them  a  great  moral  harvest.  The  simple-minded- 
ness of  the  woman  not  only  refreshed,  it  exhila- 
rated him.  For  the  moment,  all  the  sweat  and 
blood,  which  it  was  to  cost  to  prepare  the  field  for 
the  harvest,  was  lost  sight  of.  "Look  on  the 
fields,"  he  exclaimed  to  his  disciples,  pointing,  we 
may  suppose,  to  the  eagerly  approaching  crowd, 
"they  are  white  already  to  the  harvest."  All 
seemed  to  him  ripe  for  the  sickle.  The  chief  labor 
appeared  to  him,  in  his  then  state  of  mind,  to  be 
over.  There  remained  nothing  to  be  done  but  to 
gather  in  the  harvest. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  131 

I  am  unable  to  express  the  sense  of  truth  and 
nature  which  this  scene  creates  in  me.  And  yet  I 
know  not  why  I  should  designate  this  scene  in  par- 
ticular. The  whole  history  breathes  and  throbs 
with  life. 

The  Samaritans  were  much  more  open-minded 
than  the  Jews.  Jesus  tarried  among  them  a  couple 
of  days ;  and  many,  after  listening  to  him,  avowed 
their  full  belief  that  he  was  the  person  who  was  to 
come.  From  Samaria  he  passed  into  Galilee,  and 
was  welcomed  by  the  Galileans,  many  of  whom  had 
been  at  Jerusalem  at  the  same  time  that  he  was 
there,  during  the  Passover. 

Again,  upon  the  occurrence  of  another  of  the 
national  festivals,  —  which,  is  not  specified,  —  he 
went  again  to  Jerusalem,  where  his  life  was  endan- 
gered on  account  of  a  cure  which  he  performed 
there  on  a  Sabbath. 

There  was  at  Jerusalem  a  mineral  spring,  or 
bath,  which  was  built  over,  and  was  approached  by 
five  entrances  or  porches,  and  the  waters  of  which, 
occasionally  in  a  state  of  ebullition  from  some  sub- 
terranean chemical  action,  were  supposed,  and  had, 
I  suppose,  been  actually  found,  to  be  of  a  highly 
curative  quality ;  especially  when  the  agitation  of 


132  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

the  water,  —  believed,  according  to  Jewisli  modes 
of  thinking,  to  be  caused  by  the  agency  of  an 
angel,  —  was  the  greatest.  There  was,  in  all  pro- 
bability, no  precise  knowledge  as  to  the  medicinal 
effects  of  this  spring.  Some  it  cured,  and  on  others 
it  had  no  effect.  And  when  it  failed,  the  failure 
was  ascribed  to  its  not  being  tried  at  the  right 
moment,  when  the  ebullition  of  the  water  was  the 
greatest,  and  its  consequent  efficacy  was  supposed 
to  be  so  too. 

However  this  may  have  been,  Jesus  happened, 
one  Sabbath,  to  visit  the  place,  followed  by  a  crowd. 
Among  a  number  of  infirm  persons,  collected  round 
the  spring,  awaiting  the  agitation  of  the  water, 
there  lay  a  poor  man,  who  had  suffered  from  bodily 
infirmity  thirty-eight  years.  Jesus  had  some  know- 
ledge of  this  man.  He  spoke  to  him,  inquiring 
whether  he  were  willing  to  be  made  whole.  The 
man  replied  that  he  had  no  one,  when  the  angel 
came  and  troubled  the  water,  to  put  him  into  it,  but 
another  stepped  in  before  him,  and  then,  as  was 
believed,  the  medical  virtue  of  the  water  was,  for 
the  time,  exhausted.  Having  drawn  the  attention 
of  the  man  to  him,  Jesus  commanded  him  to  rise 
up ;  and,  in  order  to  give  him  assurance  of  his 
restored  strength,  and  also,  perhaps,  in  contempt 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  133 

of  the  false  idea  of  sanctity  connected  with  the 
Sabbath,  bade  him  take  up  his  bed  and  go  away ! 
And  immediately  the  man  rose,  and  did  as  he  was 
directed.  Jesus,  knowing  the  excitement  it  would 
cause,  and  the  indignation  that  would  be  awakened 
at  the  supposed  violation  of  the  day,  withdrew  from 
the  spot.  The  rage  of  his  enemies  was  greatly 
stirred.  They  menaced  his  life.  And  when,  in 
justification  of  himself,  he  afterwards  said  that  his 
heavenly  Father  was  always  at  work,  without  regard 
to  days,  and  that  he  imitated  his  Father  and  did 
likewise,  the  declaration  was  considered  as  equiva- 
lent to  arrogating  to  himself  an  equality  with  God, 
and  the  Pharisees  were  only  the  more  exasperated. 
They  were  bent  upon  destroying  him.  Accordingly, 
he  did  not  remain  long  in  Judea  at  this  time.  To 
avoid  the  designs  of  the  leading  men  at  Jerusalem, 
he  returned  to  Galilee,  and  travelled  about  there, 
teaching  in  the  synagogues. 

He  spent  so  much  of  his  time  in  Galilee,  away 
from  Jerusalem,  the  centre  and  heart  of  the  nation, 
that,  when  the  festival  of  the  Tabernacles  arrived, 
—  a  festival  commemorative  of  the  sojourn  of  the 
Israelites  in  the  desert,  and  celebrated  by  the  erec- 
tion of  tents  or  bowers  all  over  Jerusalem,  —  the 
12 


134  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

brothers  of  Jesus  advised  him  to  go  to  the  capital, 
and  teach  and  work  miracles  there,  and  not  keep 
himself  retired  in  the  country.  They  did  not  credit 
his  claims.  In  reply  to  this  advice,  Jesus  told  them 
they  could  go  to  Jerusalem  whenever  they  pleased ; 
that  no  danger  threatened  them ;  but  that  he  must 
choose  his  time,  because  he  was  exposed  to  hatred 
and  violence.  His  brothers  went  to  the  feast^ 
leaving  him  in  Galilee.  After  they  had  gone,  Jesus 
followed  them  privately.  He  sought  to  reach  the 
city  without  its  being  known  that  he  was  coming. 
He  was  expected  there ;  and  when  he  did  not  ap- 
pear, there  was  much  talk  and  disputing  about  him ; 
some  speaking  for,  and  some  against  him. 

When  the  festival  was  about  half  over,  and  many 
probably  had  given  up  all  hopes  that  he  would 
come,  he  suddenly  appeared  in  the  Temple,  teach- 
ing. And  all  who  heard  him  were  filled  with 
wonder  at  the  power  with  which  he  spoke ;  and  it 
was  asked,  '  How  came  this  man  to  know  how  to 
teach,  having  evidently  never  been  educated?' 
*My  teaching,'  said  he,  'is  no  acquisition  of  mine, 
it  is  His  who  sent  me.'  'And  every  one,'  he  added, 
freely  submitting  himself  to  the  judgment  of  all 
good  men,  'who  does  His  will  may  readily  see 
whether  it  be  His,  or  whether  it  is  my  own  work.' 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  135 

And  as  he  continued  teaching,  inquiry  was  made, 
'  Is  not  this  the  man  whose  life  is  sought  ?  How  is 
it  that  he  is  allowed  to  speak  thus  holdly  ?  Do  the 
rulers  begin  to  think  that  this  is  the  Messiah?' 
There  were  designs  to  arrest  him,  but  no  one  ven- 
tured it.  When  it  reached  the  ears  of  the  Phari- 
sees, that  the  people  were  disposed  to  regard  him 
as  the  Christ,  in  concert  with  the  chief  priests  they 
authorized  certain  officers  to  watch  for  an  opportu- 
nity to  secure  his  person.  But  he  was  so  prudent, 
and  his  friends  were  so  numerous,  that  this  was  no 
easy  undertaking. 

On  the  last  day  of  the  feast,  which  was  the  great 
day,  distinguished  by  its  imposing  ceremonies,  in  one 
of  the  pauses,  when  the  multitude  assembled  at  the 
Temple  had  sung,  in  harmony  with  the  observances 
of  the  occasion,  "  With  joy  you  shall  draw  water 
from  the  wells  of  salvation,"  Jesus  stood  up,  and 
cried  aloud,  "  If  any  one  thirst,  let  him  come  to  me 
and  drink.  He  that  trusts  in  me,  from  within  him 
shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water."  These  words, 
sounding  suddenly  amidst  the  exciting  formalities 
of  the  occasion,  startled  and  impressed  the  vast 
multitude,  and  some  exclaimed,  *  This  must  be  the 
prophet!'  and  others  said,  *It  is  the  Christ.'  And 
disputes  arose,  and  again  some  would  have  seized 


136  HISTOKY    OF    JESUS. 

Jesus  ;  but  he  had  too  many  friends,  and  it  was  not 
attempted.  The  officers,  sent  expressly  for  the 
purpose,  returned  without  him  to  their  employers, 
who  demanded  why  they  had  not  brought  him. 
Their  answer  was,  "Never  man  spake  like  this 
man !"  In  their  vexation,  the  Pharisees  betray 
their  principles,  or  no  principles.  They  were  fol- 
lowers of  the  rich  and  great,  and  despised  the 
common  people.  *  Are  ye  too  deceived  ?'  said  they 
to  the  officers ;  *  Have  any  of  the  rulers  and  Phari- 
sees believed  in  him  ?  The  people,  who  know  no- 
thing about  religion,  are  accursed.' 

Upon  the  occasion  of  another  of  the  festivals, 
commemorative  of  the  purification  of  the  Temple 
by  one  of  the  ancient  kings,  the  Feast  of  the  Dedi- 
cation, Jesus  was  at  Jerusalem;  and  as  it  was 
winter,  (December,)  and  the  weather  inclement,  he 
kept  within  the  Temple ;  and  while  walking  in  that 
part  of  it  entitled  Solomon's  Porch,  some  of  the 
Pharisees  gathered  round  him,  with  no  good  intent. 
They  professed  themselves  anxious  to  have  their 
doubts  dissipated  as  to  his  being  the  Messiah. 
They  sought  to  induce  him  to  say  in  so  many  words, 
that  he  was  that  personage.  He  told  them  they 
might  readily  satisfy  themselves,  if  they  really 
wished  to  be  satisfied,  by  considering  what  he  had 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  137 

done.  His  life  —  his  works  showed  what  he  was. 
With  fearless  integrity,  he  threw  himself  open  to 
their  scrutiny.  *But  you  do  not  believe  in  me,'  he 
said,  'because  you  are  not  well  disposed  towards 
me.  You  are  not  my  friends,  my  sheep.  All  who 
are  such  listen  to  me,  and  I  can  distinguish  them, 
and  they  are  obedient  to  me,  and  I  give  them  an 
imperishable  life.  They  cannot  be  taken  away 
from  me.  My  Father,  through  whose  providence 
they  are  mine,  is  greater  than  all,  and  no  one  can 
take  them  from  Him.  My  Father  and  I  are  of  one 
mind.'  In  thus  claiming  intimate  fellowship  with 
God,  he  was  regarded  by  the  Pharisees  as  uttering 
blasphemy,  and  they  threatened  to  stone  him.  *  I 
have  done  many  works  of  kindness  among  you,* 
said  he,  'for  which  are  you  going  to  stone  me?' 
'  We  are  not  going  to  stone  you  for  any  good  work,* 
they  replied,  '  but  because  you,  a  mere  man,  make 
yourself  God.'  'Is  it  not  written,'  said  he,  'in 
your  Law,  which  you  venerate  so  profoundly,  in 
reference  to  your  own  rulers  and  judges,  and  unjust 
judges  too :  I  said  ye  are  gods  ?  If  those  are 
called  gods,  in  the  Scripture,  against  whom  the 
word  of  God  came,*  and  the  Scripture  is  not  without 
meaning,  do  you  charge  with  blasphemy  one  whom 
the   Father   has   sanctified   and  sent,  because  he 

*  See  Note  L. 

12* 


138  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

claims  to  be  the  Son  of  God  ?  If  I  am  not  doing 
as  the  Father  commands,  do  not  believe  me.  But 
if  I  am  doing  the  will  and  work  of  the  Father, 
then,  though  you  believe  not  what  I  say,  pay  re- 
spect to  my  works,  and  you  will  see  that  the  Father 
is  in  me,  and  I  am  in  the  Father.'  They  would 
again  have  seized  him,  but  he  escaped  unharmed. 

From  Jerusalem,  he  went  into  the  vicinity  of  the 
River  Jordan,  remaining  there  for  some  time,  and 
passing  thence  into  Galilee. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  PERSONAL  DISCIPLES  OE  JESUS  —  THEIR  AT- 
TACHMENT TO  HIM  —  PETER'S  AVOWAL  OF  FAITH 
THE  DREAM  OF  PETER THE  CURE  OF  A  LUNA- 
TIC  THE   DISPUTES    OF   THE    DISCIPLES. 

It  is  refreshing  to  turn  from  those  who  regarded 
Jesus  with  dislike,  and  who  were  continually  misre- 
presenting his  words  and  actions,  and  plotting 
against  his  life,  to  those  who  early  attached  them- 
selves to  him,  and  whose  devotion  to  his  person  was 
to  the  last,  and  towards  the  last  especially,  his 
only  earthly  solace.  In  the  artless  records  of  his 
life,  where  truth  and  reality  are  everywhere  beam- 
ing forth  upon  us  in  undecaying  freshness,  there  is 
nothing  more  touchingly  accordant  with  our  nature, 
than  the  notices  which  they  give  us  of  the  love 
which  his  disciples,  as  they  are  termed,  bore  him, 

(139) 


140  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

and  whicli  grew  up,  like  a  thing  of  nature,  in  their 
hearts ;  deepening  into  the  profoundest  reverence, 
until,  amidst  all  the  contradiction  and  bewilderment 
occasioned  by  the  difference  between  his  appearance, 
words  and  actions,  on  the  one  hand,  and  their 
deep-rooted  Jewish  preconceptions  on  the  other,  it 
became  the  commanding  principle  of  their  being. 

I  suppose  that  most,  if  not  all  of  those  who  from 
an  early  period  were  known  as  his  friends,  had  been 
personally  known  to  him  for  some  time  before  ex- 
press mention  is  made  of  them ;  and  that  the  reso- 
lution to  devote  themselves  wholly  to  attendance 
upon  him,  was  not  formed  so  suddenly  as  would 
seem  from  the  statements  of  his  biographers.  Con- 
siderable allowance  is  continually  to  be  made  for 
their  way  of  stating  things,  for  the  dramatic  form 
in  which  such  simple  narrators  always  tell  their 
stories.  Although  the  personal  followers  of  Jesus 
voluntarily  became  such,  yet  he  selected  them,  not 
merely  because  they  were  willing  to  leave  all  and 
follow  him,  but  because  he  knew  them,  and  saw  in 
them  such  qualities  as  fitted  them  for  his  purposes. 

He  was  by  no  means  disposed,  as  it  very  plainly 
appears,  to  accept  the  services  of  all  or  any  who 
might  offer  to  attend  him.  While  he  was  so  wholly 
the  Truth's,  that  he  was  sacrificing  his  life  for  it, 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  141 

he  showed  no  solicitude  about  the  number  of  his 
personal  followers.  He  called  many,  but  chose  few. 
He  had  friends  to  whom  he  was,  personally,  strongly 
attached;  such  as  Lazarus,  for  instance,  and,  per- 
haps, Joseph  of  Arimathea,  who  do  not  appear  to 
have  taken  any  special  part  with  him.  This  is  a 
very  remarkable  trait  in  him.  Individuals  who 
undertake  a  work  at  all  resembling  his,  are  always 
prone  to  measure  the  merits  of  others  by  the  inte- 
rest they  manifest  in  their  peculiar  work.  They 
are  ever  apt  to  overlook  everything  but  a  personal 
adhesion  to  them  and  their  methods.  They  are 
anxious  to  swell  the  number  of  their  adherents. 

But  it  was  very  different  with  Jesus.  Instead 
of  encouraging,  he  discouraged  individuals,  again 
and  again,  from  joining  him.  So  far  from  compro- 
mising the  truth,  or  keeping  it  out  of  sight,  for  the 
sake  of  conciliating  partisans,  he  stated  the  truth 
in  its  most  repelling  form,  in  a  form  likely  to  deter 
people  from  following  him.  Not  for  a  single  in- 
stant would  he  countenance  any  man  in  putting  the 
slightest  fraud  upon  himself.  When  the  crowd  was 
pressing  upon  him,  excited  by  intense  expectation 
of  wealth  and  honors,  he  turned  and  said  to  them, 
*  Whoever  of  you  hateth  not  father  and  mother, 
and  all  that  he  hath,  yes,  and  his  own  life,  he  can- 


142  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

not  be  my  disciple.  If  you  would  indeed  follow 
me,  you  must  consider  yourself  doomed  to  the 
worst  of  deaths,  and  bearing  your  crosses  to  the 
place  of  execution.'  A  most  indiscreet  way  of 
speaking,  if  his  object  were  to  make  friends.  ^  Mas- 
ter, I  will  follow  you  wherever  you  go,'  said  one  to 
him.  He  saw  that  this  man  had  not  counted  the 
cost.  ^Follow  me  if  you  will,'  he  replied;  ^but 
the  foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  have 
nests,  but  I  know  not  where  I  shall  rest  my  head 
at  night.'  Another  offered  to  follow  him,  but  asked 
permission  to  wait  until  he  had  performed  his  last 
filial  duty  for  his  aged  father.  Jesus  perceived 
that  this  man  wanted  to  temporize.  '  If  you  are 
coming  with  me,  come  now,'  returned  Jesus,  '  and 
leave  the  dead  —  those  who  are  as  insensible  to  the 
call  of  Truth  as  the  dead  —  to  bury  the  dead.'  *I 
will  follow  you,'  said  yet  another,  of  a  like  tempo- 
rizing spirit,  '  but  let  me  first  go  and  take  leave  of 
my  family.'  "No  man,  having  put  his  hand  to  the 
plough,"  said  Jesus,  "and  looking  back,  is  fit  for 
the  kingdom  of  God."  When  a  teacher  of  the 
Law  asked  him  what  he  should  do  to  obtain  eternal 
life,  he  did  not  require  that  he  should  be  a  follower 
of  his,  but  bade  him  go  away  and  imitate  the  good 
Samaritan.    So  also,  when  a  young  man,  of  appear- 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  143 

ance  the  most  prepossessing,  of  great  wealth,  a 
youth  most  acceptable,  one  would  think,  as  a  per- 
sonal follower,  put  the  same  question  to  him,  he 
first  told  him  to  keep  the  commandments.  And 
when  the  young  man,  not  satisfied,  still  pressed  the 
inquiry,  Jesus  then  bade  him  dispose  of  all  his  pos- 
sessions and  become  his  disciple ;  requu'ing  his 
personal  adhesion  only  upon  the  hardest  condition. 
Those  whom  he  healed,  and  who,  if  any,  would 
have  been  wholly  at  his  service,  he  sent  away. 

From  these  circumstances,  apart  from  his  express 
declarations  on  this  point,  I  infer  that  his  personal 
attendants  became  such,  not  merely  through  their 
own  goodwill,  but  by  his  selection.  He  told  them, 
however,  on  one  occasion,  that  he  had  chosen  them, 
not  they  him.  The  selection  justified  his  judgment. 
Of  the  twelve,  one  indeed  proved  false  and  a  traitor, 
conspiring  with  his  enemies  against  him ;  himself 
worse  betrayed  by  the  accursed  thirst  for  gold. 
But  even  Judas  had  good  in  him,  or  Jesus  would 
never  have  selected  him.  The  vice  of  avarice, 
which  plunged  him  into  such  an  abyss  of  guilt  and 
infamy,  and  has  rendered  his  name  but  another 
word  for  the  blackest  treachery,  was,  I  suppose,  at 
the  first,  but  feebly  developed.  But  the  relation  in 
which  the  Twelve  were  brought  to  Jesus  was  fitted 


144  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

to  try  their  souls  to  the  very  core,  and  bring  out 
whatever  good  or  evil  there  was  in  them.  That 
Peter,  the  most  prominent  among  them,  was  led,  at 
a  time  of  extreme  peril,  flatly,  and  with  solemn 
oaths,  to  deny  all  acquaintance  with  Jesus,  shows 
to  what  a  searching  trial  his  personal  adherents 
were  exposed. 

On  the  whole,  it  is  quite  evident  that  the  disciples 
of  Jesus,  while  they  were  very  humble  men,  wholly 
uneducated,  were  yet,  in  an  eminent  degree,  men 
of  an  artless  and  unstipulating  honesty.  They 
were  singularly  open  to  the  force  of  Truth;  as 
is  shown  by  the  commanding  influence  which  his 
personal  character  obtained  over  them.  Like  the 
great  mass  of  their  countrymen,  they  were  full  of 
the  expectation  of  the  glorious  revolution  that  was 
at  hand.  Their  hearts  were  set  upon  the  speedy 
appearance  of  a  magnificent  and  heaven-anointed 
prince,  who  would  dispense  his  bounty  among  the 
meanest  of  their  people,  and  exalt  the  humblest 
Israelite  above  the  kings  of  the  earth.  This  ex- 
pectation was  at  first  the  main  inducement  that 
drew  them  to  Jesus  ;  and  the  wonderful  things  that 
he  did,  the  impression  that  he  everywhere  made, 
the  crowds  that  he  collected  around  him,  —  all  in- 
timating that  he  was  the  man  who  was  to  come,  — 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  145 

united  to  raise  tlieir  expectations  to  the  highest 
pitch.  That  he  was  the  promised  one,  they  were 
more  and  more  convinced  every  day ;  and  their 
belief  that  he  would  bestow  on  them  honors  and 
wealth  grew  daily,  also. 

But,  at  the  same  time,  there  was  springing  up  in 
their  bosoms  a  sentiment  of  personal  affection  and 
reverence  for  him,  of  the  strength  and  increase  of 
which,  I  suppose,  they  themselves  were,  ordinarily, 
scarcely  conscious.  It  soon  came  to  be  so  strong, 
that  they  learned  to  bear  to  hear  him  say  things 
utterly  at  variance  with  their  darling  hopes ;  things 
which,  if  they  had  considered  them  well,  would 
have  shown  them  that  those  hopes  were  all  futile. 
They  learned  to  bear  very  patiently  the  delay  of 
their  passionate  expectations,  until,  at  last,  those 
expectations  faded  away,  farther  and  farther  off, 
into  the  dim  future.  And  although  they  never 
distinctly  renounced  them,  to  the  day  of  their 
death,  yet  their  cherished  Jewish  dreams,  once  so 
vivid  and  so  near,  came  to  be  only  dreams,  barren 
pictures ;  and  they  found  content  and  strength, 
come  what  might,  in  loving  him,  and  in  the  power 
of  all  the  truth,  which,  having  fallen  from  his  vene- 
rated lips,  had  sunk  into  their  souls  like  the  living 
wcrds  of  God. 
13 


146  HISTORY    OF    JESIJS. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  observe,  that  the  influence, 
which  he  exerted  over  his  disciples  the  most  power- 
fully, was,  both  on  his  part  and  on  theirs,  an  un- 
conscious influence.  His  words  they  were  often- 
times far  from  understanding.  But  there  was  an 
unrecognized  force  continually  eff*used  from  his 
daily  bearing,  his  looks  and  conduct,  that  went 
straight  to  their  hearts,  and  bound  them  to  him 
with  a  strength  of  afiection  which  stood  every 
shock,  and  prepared  them  to  die  in  his  behalf. 

From  a  passage  which  I  have  already  had  occa- 
sion to  notice,  we  get  an  insight  into  the  state  of 
their  minds  during  the  early  days  of  their  attend- 
ance on  their  master.  They  were,  at  that  period, 
in  a  state  of  delighted  expectation.  Occasionally 
he  said  things  which  they  could  not  understand,  or 
which,  so  far  as  they  were  intelligible,  seemed  to 
point  darkly  to  disappointment  and  separation. 
But  such  thoughts  were  too  repugnant  to  their 
fond  hopes,  too  much  at  variance  with  what  was 
actually  going  on,  to  be  dwelt  on  for  a  moment. 
They  eagerly  dismissed  them,  and  let  their  minds 
run  riot  in  the  fascinating  vision  of  the  Messiah's 
reign,  summoned  up  by  the  miracles  of  goodness 
and  power  which  he  was  performing,  and  by  the 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  147 

exciting  spectacle  of  the  multitudes  that  crowded 
to  see  and  hear  him.  Amidst  a  tumult  of  wonder 
and  delight,  and  the  acclamations  of  the  people, 
the  personal  disciples  of  Jesus  were  like  the  at- 
tendants at  some  proud  and  brilliant  festival ;  and 
Jesus  was  among  them  as  a  bridegroom  among  his 
friends. 

After  this  most  animating  course  of  life  had 
b«en  going  on  for  some  time,  we  come,  in  the  his- 
tory, to  an  incident  which  constitutes,  I  think, 
quite  a  prominent  point  in  their  lives,  and,  indeed, 
in  the  history  of  Jesus  also.  The  occasion  to  which 
I  refer  was  that  when,  so  to  speak,  he  sounded  them 
as  to  their  ideas  in  regard  to  him. 

In  his  journeyings  over  Galilee,  he  had  reached 
Cesarea  Philippi,  the  most  northern  point  of  that 
country.  He  had  by  this  time  gone  over  the  whole 
land;  and  now  he  was  about  to  return  towards 
Jerusalem,  visiting  different  towns  and  villages  in 
Galilee  and  Judea.  He  foresaw  that  his  career 
must  terminate  at  the  capital.  He  desired  to  pre- 
pare his  disciples  for  what  was  to  take  place,  and 
so  was  led  to  question  them.  He  wished  to  know 
from  them  what  the  people  at  large  said  about  him  ; 
whom  they  thought  him  to  be.  His  disciples  told 
him  that  some  said  he  was  John,  the  Baptizer,  and 


148  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

some,  that  lie  was  Elias  or  Jeremiah,  or  one  of  the 
old  prophets,  reappearing  in  the  world.  It  appears 
to  have  been  a  matter  of  popular  belief  among  the 
Jews,  that  when  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  should 
come,  some,  if  not  all  the  ancient  prophets,  would 
rise  from  the  dead,  and  aid  the  Messiah  in  the  great 
work  of  restitution. 

Jesus  then  put  the  question  directly  to  his  friends, 
what  they  thought,  whoiti  they  supposed  him  to  be. 
One  of  their  number,  Peter,  whose  character  stands 
out  as  distinct  and  individual,  as  if  there  had  been 
an  express  purpose  to  describe  him  particularly, 
and  who  always  took  the  lead,  answered  for  the 
rest,  and,  without  hesitation,  declared  that  he  and 
his  associates  believed  Jesus  to  be  the  Anointed 
Messenger,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  Upon 
Peter's  making  this  declaration,  Jesus  instantly 
broke  forth  in  a  fervent  benediction  upon  Peter, 
exclaiming,  "Blessed  art  thou,  Simon,  son  of 
Jonas ;  for  flesh  and  blood  have  not  revealed  it  to 
you,  but  my  Father  who  is  in  Heaven ;"  and  laying 
his  hand  upon  Peter,  as  we  may  imagine,  he  added : 
"  and  upon  this  rock  will  I  build,  and  the  gates  of 
hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it." 

It  is  hardly  possible  for  us  to  over-estimate  the 
extraordinary  openness  evinced  by  Peter  and  the 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  149 

rest,  in  having  come  thus  early  to  a  full  conviction 
that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah.  It  showed  how  much 
they  had  been  impressed  by  the  truth  that  was  in 
his  words  and  character ;  truth  which  wrought  no 
effect  upon  the  better  informed.  It  showed  how 
little  they  had  been  affected  by  those  circumstances 
about  him,  which  were  obviously  so  irreconcilable 
with  the  received  idea  of  the  Messiah,  that  the 
religious  leaders  of  the  day,  with  all  their  wisdom, 
found  it  easier  to  believe  that  he  was  a  deceiver,  in 
league  with  evil  spirits,  than  that  he  was  the  man 
who  was  to  come.  Peter,  it  was  evident,  instead 
of  being  in  bondage  to  Jewish  ideas  and  prejudices, 
instead  of  being  actuated  by  the  passions  of  the 
flesh,  had  that  open  temper  of  mind  which  is  the 
pure  spirit  of  the  Father.  This  had  revealed  the 
truth  to  him. 

From  that  time,  Jesus,  finding  that  his  disciples 
had  arrived  at  such  full  faith  in  him,  began  to  talk 
more  freely  with  them  about  his  approaching  fate. 
He  foresaw,  from  the  first,  that  he  must  die  in  the 
work  and  for  the  work  to  which  he  had  devoted 
himself;  that  it  was  inevitable  that  he  should  pro- 
voke the  opposition  and  wrath  of  the  ruling  powers 
of  the  nation,  and  that  nothing  would  satisfy  them 
but  his  blood.  He  foresaw  that  they  would  endea- 
13* 


150  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

vor  to  cover  him  with  shame,  and  that  his  death, 
under  the  most  ignominious  circumstances,  was  de- 
termined upon.  From  the  first,  he  intimated  what 
his  end  was  to  be.  Now  he  spoke  out  plainly.  He 
knew  his  own  purpose.  He  knew  the  prejudices 
and  malice  of  his  opponents.  He  saw  that  the 
conflict  must  come,  and  that  his  own  life  must  be 
the  sacrifice.  As  soon  as  it  became  clear  to  him 
that  the  Twelve  believed  him  to  be  the  Messiah,  he 
began  to  prepare  them  for  what  was  coming.  He 
told  them  that  he  should  go  to  Jerusalem,  where 
the  religious  authorities,  the  priests  and  teachers 
of  the  nation,  would  rise  against  him,  and  put  him 
to  death ;  and  he  declared  that  he  would  rise  again 
from  the  dead,  the  third  day  afterwards. 

It  may  be  asked  why  Jesus  went  to  Jerusalem, 
when  he  foresaw  that  death  awaited  him  there; 
why  he  did  not  avoid  the  capital,  and  continue 
teaching  and  going  about  in  Galilee  and  other  parts 
of  the  country.  The  fact  was,  I  believe,  that  he 
had  done  all  he  could  do.  Such  was  the  state  of 
the  public  mind,  that  had  he  continued  travelling 
about  any  longer,  there  would  have  been  some  sedi- 
tious outbreak  of  the  people.  As  it  was,  it  shows 
his  wisdom,  that  he  succeeded  in  making  so  wide 
an  impression,  in  uttering  so  much  truth,  without 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  151 

any  popular  commotion.  He  accomplished  as  much 
as  he  did,  only  by  the  greatest  care.  He  had 
withdrawn  himself  again  and  again,  to  allow  the 
excitement  to  subside.  Had  he  not  done  so,  dis- 
turbances would  have  arisen,  and  his  life  might 
have  been  sacrificed  by  the  frenzy  of  the  people, 
or  the  violence  of  his  enemies,  at  a  moment  when 
he  was  unprepared,  and  under  circumstances  not 
fitted  to  his  great  purpose.  Between  the  enthu- 
siasm of  the  populace,  and  the  hatred  of  his  foes, 
he  had  a  difficult  path  to  follow.  And  he  resolved, 
since  he  must  perish,  that  the  final  scene  should 
take  place  at  the  capital  and  centre  of  the  nation, 
where  his  death  would  be  public,  and  would  occur 
under  such  circumstances  as  would  present  the 
great  question  between  him  and  his  countrymen 
under  its  true  aspect.  He  would  not  permit  his 
life  to  be  taken  from  him.  He  sought  to  lay  it 
down  voluntarily  and  deliberately.  And  he  did  so. 
"VMien,  shortly  after  Peter's  avowal  of  faith  in 
him,  Jesus  told  his  disciples  that  he  was  to  suffer  a 
violent  death  at  Jerusalem,  Peter,  with  character- 
istic forwardness,  and  presuming  evidently  upon 
the  high  estimation  in  which,  after  the  strong  terms 
of  commendation  in  which  Jesus  had  spoken  of 
him,  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  he  stood  with  his 


152  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

master,  undertook  to  contradict  and  reprove  him. 
"Be  it  far  from  thee,  master ;  this  shall  not  be 
done  unto  thee !"  Although  he  believed  Jesus  to 
be  the  Messiah,  yet  he  had  as  yet  no  right  under- 
standing of  the  office  of  the  Messiah.  He  still 
believed  fully  in  the  kingly  character  of  that  per- 
sonage, and  now  regarded  Jesus  as  the  Messiah  in 
disguise.  So  far  from  dreaming  of  his  violent 
death,  he  expected  that  his  master  would  shortly  in- 
vest himself  with  the  external  glory  that  belonged 
to  his  high  office.  Thinking  of  Jesus  as  he  did 
now,  he  was  shocked  at  the  idea  of  his  being  treated 
with  contumely  and  violence;  and  he  expressed 
himself  accordingly.  Jesus  replied  to  him  with 
great  severity.  Holding  himself  irrevocably  bound 
to  meet  the  terrible  fate  that  awaited  him,  he  could 
not  endure  that  it  should  be  suggested  that  he  was 
to  avoid  that  fate.  It  was  equivalent  to  proposing 
that  he  should  be  false  to  his  first  duty ;  and  he 
spoke  to  Peter  as  if  he  were  the  Evil  One  himself: 
^  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan  !  Thou  art  a  stumbling- 
block  in  my  way.  You  think  as  the  world  thinks, 
and  not  in  accordance  with  God's  Truth.'  How 
different,  and  yet  how  like  himself,  was  Peter  on 
these  two  occasions  !  At  one  moment,  represented 
as  in  communication  with  God;  at  the  next,  the 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  153 

very  opposite  of  God  —  of  the  world,  worldly ;  at 
one  moment,  a  foundation-stone,  at  the  next,  a  rock 
of  offence.  How  mortified  and  humbled  must  he 
have  been,  he,  who,  a  little  while  before,  was  so 
exalted  by  the  praises  of  his  master ! 

We  find  Jesus,  after  this,  speaking  with  new  ex- 
plicitness ;  deeming  his  disciples  better  able  to 
understand  him.  'If  any  man  will  follow  me,'  he 
began  now  to  teach,  '  let  him  deny  all  his  darling 
hopes ;  let  him  consider  himself  already  sentenced 
to  a  violent  and  shameful  death;  let  him  regard 
himself  as  a  man  bearing  his  cross,  on  the  way  to 
execution.'  '  Whosoever  thinks  to  save  his  life  by 
refusing  to  follow  me,  will  lose  it,  and  whoever 
holds  himself  prepared  to  sacrifice  his  life  with  me, 
shall  find  life  forever.  The  crisis  is  momentous  to 
every  soul  of  man.  What  does  it  profit  a  man  to 
gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  life,  his  very 
self !  The  Messiah  is  coming,  the  reign  of  God  is 
about  to  commence,  when  every  man  will  be  re- 
warded according  to  his  works.  Before  some  stand- 
ing here  shall  die,  they  will  see  the  kingdom  of  God 
coming.' 

About  a  week  after  these  sayings,  he  took  the 
principal  three  of  his  disciples,  and  retired  for  rest 
and  prayer,  to  a  mountain.     How  long  a  time  was 


154  HISTOEY    OF    JESUS. 

spent  there  we  cannot  tell.  While  there,  he  once 
retired  a  short  distance  from  his  friends,  and  was 
absorbed  in  thought  and  devotion.  Peter,  James 
and  John,  were  overpowered  by  the  excitement  they 
had  undergone.  Think  what  a  change  had  come 
over  their  whole  manner  of  life !  A  little  while 
before,  they  were  spending  day  after  day  on  the 
Sea  of  Galilee,  in  the  small  employment  of  fishing ; 
and  one  day  was  very  much  like  another,  varied 
only  by  the  alternations  of  success  and  failure  in 
their  humble  craft.  But  now,  for  some  time,  they 
had  been  travelling  from  place  to  place,  mingling 
in  immense  throngs  of  people,  witnessing  events  of 
the  most  startling  character,  which  well  nigh  intox- 
icated them  with  the  most  splendid  hopes.  They 
had  become  assured  that  he,  whom  they  were  fol- 
lowing, was  the  anointed  ambassador  of  God,  the 
consecrated  child  of  prophecy.  They  were,  they 
believed,  on  the  very  threshold  of  the  time,  when 
the  venerable  forms  of  the  ancient  seers  of  Israel 
would  rise  from  the  grave  and  fill  all  hearts  with 
rapture. 

Such,  we  have  every  reason  to  suppose,  was  the 
state  of  their  minds,  when  Jesus,  for  the  sake  of 
the  repose  they  all  needed,  and  for  prayer,  retired 
with  them  to  a  mountain  solitude.     He  had  much 


HISTORY    OP    JESUS.  155 

to  think  of.  They  fell  asleep.  One  of  their  num- 
ber, Peter,  of  a  most  ardent  temperament,  began 
to  dream ;  and  in  the  visions  of  his  sleep,  his  eyes 
having  closed,  perhaps,  while  fixed  on  the  venerated 
form  of  his  master,  and  his  mind  being  filled  with 
the  idea  of  the  Messiah's  glory,  he  still  saw  Jesus  ; 
but  now  all  arrayed  in  robes  of  dazzling  whiteness, 
in  all  that  external  glory  associated  with  the  person 
of  the  Messiah.  And  there  appeared  also  to  Peter, 
in  his  dream,  two  others,  who,  he  thought,  were 
Moses  and  Elias ;  and  they  conversed  with  Jesus 
about  what  was  to  take  place,  that  mysterious  de- 
cease, at  Jerusalem.  While  he  was  thus  dreaming, 
a  cloud  came  up,  and  it  thundered ;  and  the  sound, 
startling  the  dreamer  from  his  sleep,  was  instantly 
connected,  as  is  not  uncommon  in  dreams,  with  an 
articulate  voice,  uttering  the  very  same  words  which, 
as  Jesus  had  told  his  friends,  had  rung  through  his 
soul  at  his  baptism.  As  Peter  half  awoke,  the 
vision  was  vanishing,  and  he  cried  out,  '  Master,  it 
is  good  for  us  to  be  here ;  let  us  build  three  taber- 
nacles (or  bowers) ;  one  for  thee,  and  one  for  Moses, 
and  one  for  Elias,  and  dwell  here  forever,  in  this 
blessed  company.'  James  and  John,  awakened  by 
the  thunder  and  the  voice  of  Peter,  who,  naturally 
enough,  appeared  to  them  to  be  talking  without 


156  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

knowing  •wliat  he  was  saying,  and  all  prepared, 
after  their  recent  exciting  experience,  for  something 
startling  at  any  moment,  awoke  only  to  fall  pros- 
trate on  their  faces,  overpowered  by  fear  and  awe. 
Jesus  came  to  them,  and  raised  them  up,  and  there 
"was  no  one  there  but  Jesus,  in  his  usual  garb. 
Peter  then,  with  his  characteristic  self-confidence, 
told  what  he  had  seen.  The  vision,  which  may 
all  have  passed  in  an  inappreciable  space  of  time, 
as  is  the  nature  of  dreams,  had  to  Peter  the  vivid 
distinctness  of  reality.  James  and  John  were,  of 
course,  disposed  to  fall  in  with  Peter's  account 
without  a  moment's  hesitation ;  for,  though  they 
had  not  distinguished  what  the  voice  from  heaven 
said,  they  had  heard,  and  been  awakened  by,  the 
sound.  Accustomed  to  refer  all  things  to  God  as 
their  Source,  and  not  at  all  disposed  to  make  light 
of  so  impressive  a  vision,  Jesus  charged  them  not 
to  mention  what  had  occurred,  until  after  he  should 
have  risen  from  the  dead.  If  these  things  had 
been  spread  abroad,  the  mistaken  ideas  of  the 
Messiah,  and  of  himself,  which  filled  the  popular 
mind,  would  only  have  been  confirmed.  His  three 
disciples  obeyed  him ;  but  they  wondered,  we  are 
told,  what  he  could  mean  by  his  rising  from  the 
dead. 


HISTOKY    OP    JESUS.  157 

The  grounds  upon  which,  after  a  careful  exami- 
nation of  the  records,  I  thus  explain  what  is  called 
the  Transfiguration,  I  have  stated,  imperfectly  in- 
deed, but  somewhat  at  length,  elsewhere.  It  is  not 
to  the  purpose  of  these  pages  to  repeat  them  here. 
I  will  only  remark. 

Firstly,  that  the  common  understanding  of  the 
Transfiguration  appears  to  be  Jewish,  and  not  in 
accordance  with  the  character  of  Jesus.  When  he 
is  represented  as  arrayed  in  an  external  brightness, 
I  detect  the  working  of  the  Jewish  imagination. 
His  light  was  spiritual,  not  material,  inward,  not 
outward.  It  is  very  natural  that  Peter,  with  his 
Jewish  ideas  and  hopes,  should  see  him  thus  ar- 
rayed, in  a  dream ;  but  it  is  not  in  keeping  with 
his  character.  The  record  expressly  states  that 
Peter,  James,  and  John,  w^ere  heavy  with  sleep; 
and  the  circumstances  are  described  also  as  all 
taking  place  coincidently. 

And,  secondly,  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  how  the 
friends  of  Jesus  were  led  to  mistake  the  common 
for  the  extraordinary.  It  would  be  by  no  means 
likely,  had  such  a  mistake  never  occurred.  With 
their  sense  of  the  marvellous  all  awakened,  as  it 
must  have  been,  by  the  wonderful  things  they  were 
daily  witnessing,  it  would  have  been  strange  indeed, 
14 


158  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

not  at  all  in  agreement  with  our  common  human 
nature,  had  they  not  sometimes  been  disposed  to 
find  a  miracle,  where  miracle  there  was  none.  Let 
me  add  the  expression  of  my  full  conviction,  that 
any  one  who  will  examine  with  care  the  accounts 
of  the  Transfiguration,  seeking  only  to  see  the  event 
as  it  really  was,  will  not  only  be  satisfied  of  the 
probability  of  the  foregoing  interpretation,  but  will 
see  that  it  is  in  thorough  accordance  with  Truth 
and  nature. 

When  Jesus,  with  Peter,  James,  and  John,  de- 
scended from  the  mountain,  and  returned  to  his  other 
disciples,  he  found  them  talking  and  disputing  with 
some  of  the  teachers  of  the  Law,  and  surrounded 
by  a  great  crowd.  The  people,  not  knowing  where 
he  had  been,  were  surprised  and  rejoiced  to  see  him, 
and  ran  and  saluted  him.  He  inquired  what  was 
the  matter  in  dispute,  and  the  meaning  of  the 
crowd.  A  man  came  forward  and  knelt  down  be- 
fore him,  and  besought  him  to  take  pity  on  his  son ; 
whom  he  went  on  to  describe  as  a  lunatic,  terribly 
afilicted, —  subject  to  violent  fits,  or  spasmodic  at- 
tacks, which  sometimes  threw  him  into  the  fire, 
sometimes  into  the  water,  accordingly  as  he  hap- 
pened to  be  near  either  when  seized  with  these 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  159 

convulsions;   and  his  strength  was  wasting  away. 
*  I  brought  him,'  said  the  man,  *  to  thy  disciples,  but 
they  were  not  able  to  cure  him.'    Upon  hearing  this, 
Jesus  could  not  repress  an  expression  of  impatience 
at  the  want  of  faith  in  his  disciples   and   in  all 
around  him.      "0  faithless  and  perverse  genera- 
tion !"  he  exclaimed ;  ^'  how  long  shall  I  be  with 
you  ?     How  long  shall  I  endure  you  ?     Bring  your 
son  to  me."     And  the  lunatic  was  brought  forward. 
Agitated  by  the  presence  of  Jesus,  he  was  seized 
with  a  fit,  and  fell  down,  foaming  at  the  mouth. 
Jesus  inquired  of  the  father  how  long  his  son  had 
been  thus  afflicted.      "From  his  childhood,"   the 
father  replied;  "if  thou  canst  do  anything,  have 
compassion  on  us  and  help  us."    *  What  is  this  If 
thou  canst  ?'  returned  Jesus ;  *  Do  you  believe.     All 
things  can  be  done  by  him  that  believes.'    "  Master, 
I  believe,"  exclaimed  the  father,  with  tears;  "help 
thou  mine  unbelief!"     Seeing  the  crowd  fast  in- 
creasing, Jesus  turned   to  the   sufferer,  and  in  a 
tone  of  resistless  command,  charged  the  evil  spirit 
to  depart,  and  afflict  him  no  more.     At  this  the 
youth  cried  out,  and,   after  a  violent   convulsion, 
fell  to  the  earth   lifeless,  so   that   many  thought 
that  he  was  dead.      But  Jesus   took  him  by  the 
hand,  and  he  rose  up  and  was  well. 


160  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

And  when  Jesus  was  alone  with  his  disciples, 
they  inquired  of  him  why  they  were  unable  to  heal 
the  man.  He  told  them  that  it  was  owing  to  their 
want  of  faith.  They  had  been  alarmed  at  the 
appalling  appearance  of  the  disease,  and  lost  their 
self-possession,  and,  of  course,  the  power  of  faith. 
Faith,  their  master  assured  them,  was  of  immense 
power ;  nothing  was  impossible  to  it.  At  the  same 
time,  he  admitted  that  such  a  frightful  and  violent 
disease  as  they  had  just  witnessed,  could  be  subdued 
and  expelled  only  by  such  a  faith  as  had  been 
formed  and  strengthened  by  rigid  self-discipline, 
prayer  and  fasting. 

Jesus  was  at  this  time  in  Galilee,  where  he  sought 
to  keep  retired,  and  to  prepare  his  disciples  for 
the  fearful  events  that  would  occur  at  Jerusalem, 
whither  he  was  resolved  to  go.  He  went  to  Caper- 
naum ;  and,  on  the  way,  he  told  them  that  he  should 
go  to  Jerusalem,  where  he  would  be  betrayed  into 
the  power  of  the  priests  and  Pharisees,  who  would 
kill  him ;  but  he  would  rise  from  the  dead  the  third 
day  afterwards.  His  disciples,  believing  him  to  be 
the  Messiah,  could  not  understand  how  such  things 
could  be.  They  were  greatly  disturbed,  but  no  one 
dared  to  ask  him  for  an  explanation. 

It  seems  very  probable,  after  Jesus  had  spoken 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  161 

SO  highly  of  Peter,  that  this  disciple,  who  seems 
from  the  first  to  have  assumed  the  chief  place 
among  his  companions,  became  rather  overbearing, 
and  that  they  were  not  disposed  to  recognise  his 
pretensions.  They  got  into  a  dispute,  on  the 
journey  to  Capernaum,  when  they  thought  they 
were  not  observed  by  Jesus.  Their  reverence  for 
him  would  hardly  have  allowed  them  to  quarrel  in 
his  immediate  presence,  or  when  his  eye  was  upon 
them.  When  they  arrived  at  Capernaum,  he  in- 
quired of  them  what  they  had  been  disputing  about. 
At  first  they  held  their  peace.  They  were  ashamed 
to  confess  their  quarrels.  He  knew  what  the 
matter  was.  He  knew  the  ambitious  hopes  they 
were  cherishing.  They  were  looking  for  high 
places  under  him,  in  the  coming  kingdom.  Hence 
arose  jealousies  among  them.  And  they  betrayed 
the  cause  of  difficulty  and  dispute,  by  asking  him 
who  would  be  the  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of 
Heaven.  They  had  their  hearts  fixed  on  standing 
near  the  throne  of  the  Messiah.  And  their  object 
evidently  was  to  ascertain  from  their  master  which 
of  them  should  be  first.  Jesus  called  a  little  child 
to  him,  and  took  him  up  in  his  arms,  and  then  said 
to  his  disciples  standing  around,  in  a  manner  the 
most  emphatic :  ^  Unless  you  are  entirely  changed, 
14* 


162  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

unless  you  relinquish  all  these  jealous  and  ambitious 
hopes,  and  become  like  this  child,  so  far  from 
having  any  rank  in  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,  you 
will  not  be  able  so  much  as  to  enter  it.  Whoever 
becomes  humble  and  docile  as  a  child,  deeming  that 
he  knows  nothing,  ready  to  be  taught  all  things  — 
he  is  the  highest  in  the  great  kingdom.'  He  then 
proceeded  to  declare,  with  the  same  emphasis,  that 
any  honor  paid  to  such  a  childlike  follower  of  his 
would  be  honor  paid  to  him ;  and  he  warned  them 
that  any  one  of  them,  who  misled  one  of  these 
lowly-minded  friends  of  his,  and  caused  him  to  be 
repelled  from  the  Truth  and  to  go  astray,  as  they, 
the  disciples,  were  in  imminent  danger  of  doing, 
by  their  jealousies  and  feuds,  would  so  suffer  for 
it,  that  the  having  a  millstone  hanged  about  his 
neck,  and  being  drowned  in  the  depth  of  the  sea, 
would  be  a  better  fate.  He  said  that  occasions  of 
falling  away  from  the  Truth  would  be  given  by  his 
professed  disciples  —  that  such  things  must  come ; 
^'but  woe,"  said  he,  "unto  him  by  whom  they 
come !"  Wherefore  he  charged  them,  in  the  most 
solemn  manner,  to  repress,  at  all  costs,  the  slightest 
tendencies  to  evil  in  themselves ;  to  pluck  out  the 
right  eye,  if,  kindled  with  unhallowed  desire,  it 
should  be  leading  them  into  sin,  or  cut  oif  the  right 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  163 

hand,  if  it  were  extended  to  do  wrong,  rather  than, 
by  giving  way,  plunge  themselves  into  a  fiery  abyss 
of  woe.  'Take  heed,'  said  he,  'how  you  suffer 
yourselves  to  think  lightly  of  these  humble-minded, 
childlike  ones.  They  are  most  dear  to  God.  Their 
guardian  angels  are  angels  of  the  highest  rank  in 
Heaven;  they  are  those  angels  who  stand  always 
in  His  presence.'  ^ 

There  may  be  guardian  angels.  It  is  pleasant  to 
think  so.  But  whether  there  be  or  not,  it  is  not  at 
all  the  purpose  of  this  passage  to  teach  that  there 
are  such  heavenly  ministrants  watching  over  men. 
Jesus  obviously  meant  simply  to  impress  his  disci- 
ples with  the  truth,  that  those  of  whom  he  was 
speaking  were  very  precious  in  the  sight  of  Heaven. 
In  expressing  this  truth,  he  used  a  mode  of  thought, 
familiar  and  striking  to  the  Jewish  mind.  The  idea 
of  guardian  angels  was  an  idea  popularly  received 
among  the  Jews.  And  when,  to  express  a  thought 
of  his  own,  Jesus  used  the  language  of  that  idea, 
he  did  not  affect,  in  the  slightest  degree,  the  minds 
of  his  disciples  as  to  their  belief  in  guardian  angels ; 
nor  can  we  infer  from  this  language  what  he  him- 
self thought,  as  to  the  existence  of  angels.  To 
illustrate  the  case  by  a  familiar  example :  —  it  is 
common  to  speak  of  the  insane  as  lunatic ;  but  who, 


164  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

by  the  use  of  this  term,  is  ever  supposed  by  others, 
or  ever  supposes  himself,  to  avow  his  belief  that  the 
insane  are  under  the  influence  of  the  moon,  as  the 
term,  lunatic,  implies  ?  Had  this  characteristic  of 
popular  modes  of  speech  been  duly  considered, 
Jesus  would  never  have  had  attributed  to  him 
opinions  which  belonged,  not  to  him,  but  to  his 
country  and  his  age,  and  which  had  become  so 
universal  long  before  him,  that  they  had  moulded 
the  popular  language  of  the  time  and  place  ;  so  that 
any  one  who  thought  to  be  understood,  was  necessi- 
tated to  use  that  language,  without  considering 
himself,  or  being  considered  by  others,  as  distinctly 
believing  what  it  literally  and  logically  expressed. 

Let  me  remark,  in  passing,  that  here  is  a  most 
important  consideration,  which,  when  once  fairly  ap- 
preciated, will  throw  great  light  on  the  record  of  the 
words  of  Jesus ;  showing  us,  for  instance,  how  it  is 
that  he  appears  to  have  given  the  weight  of  his 
great  authority  to  the  popular  idea  of  demoniacal 
possession.  It  is  only  in  appearance  that  he  has 
done  so.  He  necessarily  used  the  established 
phraseology  of  the  day,  —  there  was  no  other,  — 
in  regard  to  this  point ;  and  we  are  not  required  to 
suppose  that  he  had  any  thought,  one  way  or  an- 
other, as  to  the  nature  of  diseases.     He  dealt  only 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  165 

witli  facts,  and  designated  those  facts  by  popular 
terms.  The  pages  of  his  history  throw  no  direct 
light  whatever  upon  the  origin  of  those  diseases 
ascribed,  in  his  day,  to  evil  spirits.  We  fancy,  in 
the  pride  of  science,  that  we  have  a  wiser  philoso- 
phy, but  I  do  not  know. 

To  return.  On  the  occasion  of  which  we  were 
speaking,  Jesus  went  on  to  admonish  his  disciples 
of  the  claims  of  the  lowly.  He  had  come,  he  said, 
for  the  sake  of  those  who  were  wandering  like  lost 
sheep  —  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost.  As  a  man, 
having  a  hundred  sheep,  values  them  all  so  much, 
that  if  but  one  strays,  he  leaves  the  ninety  and 
nine,  and  goes  after  the  lost  one  until  he  finds  it, 
so  it  is  the  will  of  the  great  Shepherd  that  not  one 
of  his  flock  should  wander  away  forgotten.  Since 
the  Eternal  Father  loveth  his  children  thus,  it  be- 
came the  disciples  of  Jesus  to  take  heed  how  they 
neglected  or  despised  the  humblest  of  their  brothers. 
He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear. 

Although,  when  thus  admonished,  the  disciples 
of  Jesus  ceased  their  disputing,  yet  some  heart- 
burnings remained,  not  wholly  allayed.  Peter,  it 
is  probable,  had  been  wounded  by  the  remarks  of 
some  one  of  his  fellow-disciples,  whom  he  had  irri- 
tated  by  his   assuming   temper;   for   he  went   to 


166  HISTORY    OF    JESTTS. 

Jesus,  and  asked  how  often  he  was  bound  to  for- 
give an  offending  brother.  In  reply,  Jesus  told 
him  that  he  was  to  forgive  without  end ;  not  only 
seven  times,  as  Peter  had  suggested,  but  seventy 
times  seven ;  and  then  he  related  one  of  his  striking 
parables,  the  parable  of  the  servant  who  had  been 
forgiven,  but  would  not  forgive. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

JESUS  PASSES  THROUGH  SAMARIA  —  CHILDREN  — 
THE  RICH  YOUTH  —  THE  HOPES  OF  THE  DISCI- 
PLES—  JERICHO  —  THE  BLIND  MAN  —  ZACCHEUS 
THE   KINGDOM   OF   HEAVEN  —  LAZARUS. 

After  tarrying  for  a  while  in  Galilee,  endeavor- 
ing to  prepare  the  minds  of  his  disciples  for  the 
fate  which  he  had  resolved  to  encounter  at  Jerusa- 
lem, Jesus  at  length  quitted  that  country  for  the  last 
time,  and  turned  his  face  towards  the  capital.  He 
did  not,  however,  go  directly  thither.  But  he  went 
through  the  towns  and  villages  of  Judea,  teaching 
and  healing  in  his  wonderful  way,  everywhere  at- 
tended by  crowds,  who  made  such  demands  upon 
him,  that  we  can  but  faintly  picture  to  ourselves  the 
labor  and  fatigue  which  he  must  have  undergone. 
He  was   the  friend  and   servant  of  all,  and  was 

(167) 


168  HISTOKY    OF    JESUS. 

found  again  and  again  among  the  forsaken  and 
outcast.  He  passed  through  Samaria,  crossed  into 
Perea,  the  country  beyond  the  River  Jordan,  and 
made  every  spot  he  visited  holy  forever,  by  the 
immortal  lessons  which  he  uttered  as  he  went,  and 
by  his  deeds  of  power  and  love. 

He  did  not  now  avoid  publicity  as  much  as  for- 
merly ;  but  took  special  means  to  excite  and  impress 
the  whole  country.  He  sent  out  a  large  company, 
seventy  of  his  followers,  to  announce  the  coming 
of  the  divine  kingdom.  He  published  no  system 
of  faith,  no  formula  of  doctrine,  but  relied  in  un- 
wavering trust  upon  that  good  Providence,  with 
which  he  was  wholly  at  one,  to  furnish  him,  in  its 
own  wise  and  bountiful  way,  with  opportunities  of 
delivering  the  tidings  of  Everlasting  Truth. 

Upon  setting  out,  he  sent  persons  before  him,  to 
make  known  his  approach  and  prepare  for  his  re- 
ception. These  messengers  went  into  a  Samaritan 
village  to  make  ready  for  him;  but  the  people, 
finding  that  he  was  on  his  way  to  Jerusalem,  and 
that  he  was  going  to  pass  by  the  sacred  mount, 
Gerizim,  where  alone,  as  they  thought,  true  worship 
could  be  rendered,  refused  to  receive  him.  At  this, 
his  disciples,  James,  and  the  gentle-minded  John, 
the  favorite  of  his  master,  were  highly  indignant, 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  169 

and  proposed  that  he  should  call  down  fire  from 
Heaven,  like  one  of  the  old  prophets,  and  consume 
them.  '  You  know  not  what  spirit  you  are  breath- 
ing,' replied  he ;  '  I  have  come,  not  to  destroy  men's 
lives,  but  to  save  them.' 

Upon  another  occasion,  John  told  him  that  he 
had  found  a  man  who  undertook  to  cast  out  spirits 
and  cure  the  possessed  by  using  the  name  of  Jesus, 
and  that  he  had  forbidden  him,  because  he  was  a 
stranger,  who  did  not  keep  company  with  them. 
Jesus  told  John  that  he  ought  not  to  forbid  the 
man;  for  it  was  evident  that  this  stranger  was 
evidently  not  an  enemy,  and  must  therefore  be  pre- 
sumed to  be  a  friend.  He  must  have  had  respect 
for  Jesus,  or  he  would  not  have  made  such  a  use  of 
his  name. 

It  is  not  diJfficult  to  see  how  such  a  case  as  this 
happened  to  occur.  The  fame  of  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth, the  new  and  mighty  teacher,  the  wonder- 
worker, had  spread  over  the  country,  far  and  wide. 
His  name  had  become,  in  the  minds  of  the  multi- 
tude, another  name  for  a  new  and  extraordinary 
authority —  a  word  of  magical  power.  As  attempts 
were  made  to  cure  the  possessed  by  various  forms 
of  exorcism,  it  is  natural  that  the  efficacy  of  the 
name  of  Jesus  should  be  tried,  —  as  if  there  were 
15 


170  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

some  occult  virtue  in  it ;  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
it  was  used  with  effect,  perhaps  with  entire  success ; 
as  those  who  were  suffering  under  nervous  diseases 
may  be  supposed  to  have  been  peculiarly  sensitive 
to  such  an  influence. 

At  one  place,  women  came,  bringing  their  little 
children  to  see  the  wonderful  man,  and  to  be  noticed 
by  him.  But  the  persons  about  him  spoke  roughly 
to  these  women,  and  bade  them  take  the  children 
away,  and  not  trouble  him ;  he  had  other  and  more 
important  things  to  occupy  his  time  and  attention. 
But  when  Jesus  saw  his  disciples  sending  the  little 
ones  away,  forbidding  them  to  come  to  him,  he  was 
"much  displeased,"  and  exclaimed,  'let  the  little 
children  come  to  me,  and  do  not  prevent  them ;  for 
like  little  children  are  those  who  are  of  the  kingdom 
of  God.'  And  he  caressed  them,  taking  them  up 
in  his  arms  and  blessing  them ;  through  them,  ren- 
dering all  childhood  sacred  forever,  as  the  type  of 
a  higher  and  better  condition  of  being.  Every 
bereaved  Christian  mother  now  resigns  her  vanished 
child  to  the  embrace  o-f  this  comforting  benediction. 

At  another  time,  as  he  was  passing  along  in  the 
street  or  road,  a  young  man,  of  rank  and  wealth, 
came  running,  and  knelt  down  before  Jesus,  and, 
with  a  countenance  beaming  with  the  ingenuousness 


HISTORY    OP    JESUS.  171 

of  youtli,  said,  ''  Good  master,  what  shall  I  do  to 
inherit  eternal  life?"  There  was  that  in  the  man- 
ner of  this  young  man  that  touched  and  won  the 
heart  of  Jesus  instantly.  It  was,  perhaps,  because 
he  felt  the  manifest  sincerity  of  those  youthful  tones, 
that  he  was  prompted  instinctively  to  repel  the 
seductive  flattery.  "Whycallest  thou  me  good," 
he  replied;  "there  is  none  good  but  one,  God." 
He  bade  the  young  man  keep  the  commandments ; 
to  which  the  young  man  answered  that  he  had  kept 
them  always,  from  his  childhood.  Then  Jesus  told 
him  that,  if  he  would  be  perfect,  he  must  go  and 
dispose  of  all  his  wealth  among  the  poor,  and  come 
and  follow  him.  This  was  all  that  was  wanting  to 
perfect  his  character.  But  here  was  a  sacrifice 
which  he  was  unable  to  make,  and  he  went  away 
sad.      He  was  very  wealthy. 

As  he  departed,  Jesus  turned  to  his  disciples  and 
remarked  that  it  was  hardly  possible  for  a  rich  man 
to  enter  the  kingdom  of  God ;  in  other  words,  to 
undertake  the  service  of  Truth,  which  required 
men  to  renounce  wealth,  and  ease,  and  friends,  as 
Jesus  himself  had  done,  for  the  sake  of  the  divine 
kingdom,  and  to  expose  themselves  to  persecution 
and  death.  So  impressed  was  he  with  the  difficulty 
which  the  rich,  enervated  by  the  indulgences  of 


172  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

wealth,  must  have  in  such  self-sacrifice,  especially 
when  a  youth,  so  amiable  and  so  felameless,  was 
unequal  to  it,  that  he  spoke  as  if  it  were  an  absolute 
impossibility  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  the  divine 
kingdom.  Of  course,  he  is  not  to  be  taken  to  the 
letter.  Allowance  is  to  be  made  for  the  strength 
of  the  feeling  awakened  by  the  case  of  this  young 
man;  unexceptionable,  to  all  appearance, "and  yet 
incapable  of  the  self-renunciation  required.  If 
such  an  one  could  not  enter  the  kingdom  of  God, 
it  seemed  impossible  that  any  rich  man  would  — 
that  a  camel  might  pass  through  a  needle's  eye 
sooner. 

But  the  disciples,  all  whose  ideas  of  the  coming 
kingdom  were  identified  with  wealth  and  honor, 
were  filled  with  amazement  at  this  declaration  of 
their  master's ;  and  they  exclaimed,  '  Who  then  can 
be  saved?'  or,  to  express  the  same  thing  in  other 
words,  ^  Who  then  can  enter  the  kingdom  of  Hea- 
ven ?'  To  be  saved,  in  their  view,  was  synonymous 
with  being  admitted  into  the  Messiah's  kingdom. 
Jesus,  seeing  their  perplexity,  and  knowing  that 
the  progress  of  events  would  enlighten  them,  simply 
said,  '  It  may  seem  impossible  to  men,  but  it  is 
possible  with  God  to  save  men,  to  establish  his 
kingdom,  even  though  there  should  be  no  rich  men 


HISTORY    OP    JESUS.  173 

in  it.  The  look  with  which  this  was  said  was  so 
imiDressive,  that  it  was  remembered,  and  has  been 
recorded. 

It  is  interesting  to  mark  the  natural  working  of 
Peter's  mind  on  this  occasion.  He  is  transparent 
like  a  child.  He  betrayed  his  own  art  with  an  art- 
less simplicity.  He  evidently  thought  to  himself: 
'  This  is  very  strange ;  the  Messiah  coming,  the 
kingdom  of  Heaven  to  be  established,  without 
riches !  It  is  high  time  to  ascertain  our  position, 
to  know  what  our  prospects  are  —  how  we  are  to  be 
rewarded  for  following  our  master.'  And  he  spoke 
out  and  said,  ^  Behold,  we  have  left  all  and  followed 
thee,  what  are  we  going  to  get  ?'  Jesus  assured 
him,  in  reply,  most  emphatically,  that  they  who 
attended  him  in  the  work  of  reform  would  be  raised 
to  great  power  in  the  heavenly  kingdom,  and  would 
be  made  judges  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel, 
seated  on  thrones.  They  have  indeed  been  exalted 
to  great  power.  The,  promise  of  their  master  to 
them  has  been  more  than  fulfilled,  for  they  became 
the  apostles  of  Truth,  the  teachers  of  nations.  He 
went  on  to  say,  that  though  they  had  forsaken  all, 
yet,  for  all  that  that  they  had  given  up,  they  would 
receive  a  hundredfold,  and  enter  upon  ever-enduring 
life. 

15* 


174  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

Perceiving  that  Peter  and  the  rest  imagined  that 
they  had  secured  some  peculiar  advantage  by  having 
been  the  first  to  attach  themselves  to  him,  Jesus 
added,  'But  many  that  are  first  will  be  last,  and 
the  last  will  be  first.'  And  then  he  illustrated 
this  declaration,  by  relating  a  story  of  a  man  who 
went  out  at  different  hours  of  the  day  to  hire 
laborers  to  work  in  his  vineyard;  and  at  the  close 
of  the  day  paid  those  who  had  worked  only  one 
hour,  but  who  would  gladly  have  worked  longer, 
had  they  been  hired  earlier,  the  same  as  the  rest ; 
and  when  those  who  had  labored  all  day  complained 
because  they  received  no  more  than  those  who  had 
labored  only  an  hour,  their  employer  reminded  them 
that  they  had  received  all  that  they  bargained  for, 
and  that  it  was  not  for  them  to  find  fault  with  him, 
if  he  chose  to  give  just  as  much  to  others,  who 
would  have  been  willing  to  work  all  day  at  the 
same  rate  had  any  one  hired  them. 

By  this  parable,  Jesus  evidently  meant  to  admon- 
ish Peter  that  he  had  no  reason  to  expect  any 
special  advantages  merely  because,  —  not  through 
any  merit  of  his,  but  in  the  providence  of  Heaven, 
—  he  had  been  called  among  the  first  to  labor  in 
the  vineyard  of  Truth;  that  others  would  come 
after  him,  as  well  disposed  as  he,  who  would  be 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  175 

equally  compensated,  and  whose  late  coming  would 
be  owing  to  no  fault  of  theirs.  Many,  called  first, 
would  disregard  the  call,  and  be  among  the  last ; 
and  many,  called  at  a  late  period,  would  be  among 
the  first.  Many  were  called,  but  only  a  few  really 
chosen ;  —  the  statement  of  a  simple  fact.  How 
few  of  the  vast  multitudes  whom  Jesus  himself  in- 
yited  to  the  service  of  Truth,  did  really  enter  it, 
and  prove  themselves  to  be  chosen  !  How  few  are 
there,  of  the  multitudes  whom  the  Truth  is  now 
inviting,  who  accept  the  invitation  with  undivided 
hearts ! 

On  one  occasion,  he  was  asked  whether  there 
were  few  or  many  to  be  admitted  into  the  divine 
kingdom.  He  replied  to  this  question,  by  warning 
those  around  him  to  take  care  and  use  their  utmost 
endeavors  to  enter  at  the  narrow  gate ;  for  many 
would  think  to  enter  in,  and  would  not  be  able. 
The  Jews  at  large  expected  to  be  admitted  into  the 
promised  state ;  which  is  spoken  of  here  and  else- 
where as  a  glorious  palace  and  a  grand  festival,  at 
which  the  good  and  great  of  past  times,  saints  and 
patriarchs,  are  present ;  and  Jesus  admonished  his 
countrymen  that  it  required  the  greatest  pains  on 
their  part,  as  the  gate  was  small,  and  difficult  of 
access  and  entrance,  and  they  might  miss  it ;  and, 


176  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

besides,  the  opportunity  of  finding  it  would  soon  be 
past.  The  master  of  the  entertainment  would  rise 
and  close  the  door,  and  to  all  the  entreaties  of  those 
seeking  admission  would  reply :  '  I  know  not  who 
you  are.'  Of  the  truth  of  his  words,  the  then 
state  of  things  was  an  illustration.  How  few  were 
in  the  straight  and  narrow  way ! 

He  counselled  the  people,  at  the  same  time,  not 
to  despair  of  the  coming  of  the  kingdom,  bidding 
them  to  look  and  pray  for  it  without  ceasing.  In 
this  connection,  he  related  the  parable  of  the  un- 
principled judge,  who  yielded  to  the  entreaties  of  a 
poor  widow  for  justice,  simply  because  she  impor- 
tuned him.  If  a  man  then,  with  no  principle  of 
humanity  or  religion,  could  thus  be  induced  to  grant 
justice,  would  God  be  regardless  of  the  prayers  of 
his  children  for  light  and  life  ?  Most  certainly  he 
would  answer  the  desire  of  their  hearts.  Neverthe- 
less, asked  Jesus,  when  the  Messiah  comes,  will  he 
find  people  ready  to  receive  him  ?  *  Will  he  find 
faith  on  the  earth  ?'* 

While  thus  travelling  about,  with  the  probable 
design  of  reaching  Jerusalem  about  the  time  of  the 
Passover,  Jesus  kept  reminding  his  disciples  of  his 
death,  which  was  there  to  take  place.  He  saw 
that,  as  he  was  faithful  to  the  Truth,  he  must  die 
*  See  Note  M. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  177 

in  its  service,  and  he  chose  his  own  time  and  place. 
But  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  connect  ideas  of 
shame  and  violence  with  the  glorious  person  of  the 
Messiah ;  and  I  suppose  that  what  their  master 
told  them  of  the  events  to  occur  at  Jerusalem  had 
no  effect  upon  their  minds,  except  to  disturb  them. 
Thej  could  not  comprehend  how  he  who  was  to 
reign  a  thousand  years  should  suffer  so.  They  dis- 
missed the  thought  as  soon  as  it  was  suggested,  and 
turned  with  delight  to  their  radiant  visions. 

Two  of  them  induced  their  mother  to  beg  from 
Jesus  a  promise  that,  when  he  began  his  glorious 
reign,  they  should  sit  on  the  right  and  on  the  left 
of  his  throne,  and  so  occupy  the  highest  places. 
Jesus  told  them  they  did  not  know  what  they  were 
asking.  "  Can  you  be  baptized  with  the  baptism 
that  I  am  baptized  with?  Can  you  drink  of  the 
cup  that  I  shall  drink  of?"  In  other  words,  '  Can 
you  go  through  such  a  flood  of  suffering  as  I  am 
going  through  ?  Can  you  drink  of  the  bitter  cup 
of  trial  with  me?'  How  clearly  does  it  appear 
from  these  words,  that  the  power  which  Jesus  was 
thinking  of  was  a  power  to  be  obtained  through 
suffering  ;  —  moral,  not  political  power.  The  two 
disciples  had  no  idea  of  his  meaning,  and  they  un- 
thinkingly replied,  that  they  were  able.     '  Yes,  you 


178  HISTORY    OP    JESUS. 

will  indeed  go  through  the  same  baptism,  and  drink 
of  the  same  cup  with  me,'  said  Jesus ;  '  but  still,  to 
sit  on  my  right  hand  and  on  my  left  can  be  given 
only  to  those  who  may  be  found  qualified  therefor, 
in  the  providence  of  my  Father.'  It  was  not  a 
matter  of  arbitrary  appointment.  They  would  rise 
to  high  places  in  the  kingdom,  who  should  be  found 
worthy. 

When  the  other  disciples  discovered  that  the  two 
brothers  had  been  attempting  to  anticipate  and 
forestall  them,  they  were  very  angry.  And  then 
Jesus  gave  them  that  definition  of  true  power, 
which,  were  it  the  only  one  of  his  sayings  that  had 
come  down  to  us,  would  be  recorded  among  the 
deathless  words  of  ancient  wisdom.  He  makes  a 
wide  distinction  between  greatness,  commonly  so 
regarded,  and  true  greatness.  ^  The  kings  of  the 
earth,'  he  said  to  his  disciples,  '  exercise  power ;  but 
it  is  not  power  like  theirs  that  you  are  to  exercise, 
but  whosoever  seeks  to  be  greatest  among  you,  let 
him  be  the  servant  of  the  rest ;  even  as  I  have 
come,  not  to  be  served,  but  to  serve;  to  give  up 
everything,  my  very  life,  in  the  service,  not  of  one 
or  of  a  few,  but  of  many.' 

As  he  approached  Jerusalem,  he  visited  Jericho, 
which  place  is  rendered  memorable  by  two  incidents 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  179 

that  occurred  there.  In  the  neigbborhood  of  this 
city  there  sate  a  blind  beggar,  who,  as  his  name, 
Bartimeus,  is  given,  appears  to  have  been  widely 
known.  He  was,  I  suppose,  a  familiar  object,  a 
melancholy  fixture,  seated  there,  at  some  prominent 
point  on  the  highway;  and  familiarity  with  the 
sight  had  blunted  the  popular  mind  to  a  sense  of 
his  wretchedness.  The  people  had  got  accustomed 
to  his  ancient  misery,  and  imagined  that  he  was 
used  to  it  himself,  and  that  if  an  alms  was  thrown 
to  him  occasionally,  it  was  all  he  could  expect. 
The  quick  ear  of  the  blind  man  caught  the  sound 
of  an  unusual  noise,  of  many  voices  and  many  feet. 
He  asked  what  was  the  matter ;  and  was  told  that 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  of  whom  he  had  heard  as  the 
mighty  teacher,  the  healer  of  the  sick,  the  restorer 
of  sight  to  the  blind,  was  passing  by ;  and  instantly 
the  blind  man  began  to  shout  with  all  his  strength, 
addressing  Jesus  by  one  of  the  titles  of  the  Mes- 
siah, — '  Son  of  David,  have  pity  on  me  !'  The 
people,  as  they  passed,  bade  him  hush,  and  not 
suppose  that  he  would  be  taken  notice  of.  But  he 
minded  not  what  was  said  to  him,  but  kept  calling 
out,  '  Son  of  David,  have  pity  on  me  !'  It  was,  he 
felt,  his  last  chance.  He  had  no  one  to  lead  him 
to  the  great  wonder-worker,  who,  he  had  no  doubt, 


180  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

must  be  tlie  Messiah ;  for  he  had  restored  sight  to 
the  blind.  That  was  proof  sufficient  to  a  blind  man. 
Jesus  heard  his  cry.  It  reached  an  ear  ever  listen- 
ing for  the  wail  of  human  suffering ;  and  he  paused, 
and  bade  the  blind  man  to  be  brought  to  him.  Then 
eager  hands  were  extended  to  obey  his  bidding, 
and  lead  the  beggar  to  him.  The  beggar  leaped 
with  joy,  and  left  his  ragged  mantle  behind  him. 
*What  do  you  want  of  me?'  asked  Jesus.  'Mas- 
ter,' gasped  the  beggar,  rolling  his  sightless  orbs, 
all  in  a  tremor  of  faith  and  hope,  'I  want  my 
sight !'  And  Jesus  touched  his  eyes,  and  said, 
*  According  to  your  faith,  be  it  done  unto  you.' 
And  immediately  his  sight  came  to  him  again,  and 
a  cry  of  wonder  and  delight  went  up  from  the 
crowd. 

On  a  former  occasion,  when  a  blind  man  was 
brought  to  him,  Jesus  took  him  apart  —  led  him 
out  of  the  town ;  and  when  he  had  anointed  his 
eyes  with  saliva,  he  asked  him  if  he  could  see.  The 
man  said  he  could  see  men  walking  at  a  distance, 
but  could  distinguish  them  from  the  trees  only  by 
their  motion.  Jesus  then  put  his  hands  again  upon 
the  man's  eyes,  and  he  saw  distinctly.  The  parti- 
culars of  this,  as  of  most  of  the  incidents  that 
make  up  the  accounts  of  Jesus,  are  very  briefly 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  181 

told.  In  this  instance,  ^ve  may  believe  that  lie  used 
this  peculiar  means,  putting  saliva  on  the  blind  man's 
eyes,  not  because  there  was  any  medical  virtue  in 
it,  but  simply  to  form  a  communication  between 
himself  and  the  man,  to  express  his  will  to  him  ;  for, 
as  the  power  of  vision,  and  of  all  the  bodily  func- 
tions, resides,  not  in  the  body,  but  in  the  mind,  so 
it  was  to  the  mind,  to  the  intellectual,  conscious 
nature,  that  Jesus  addressed  himself  when  the  dis- 
orders of  the  body  were  to  be  corrected.  So  again, 
when  he  restored  hearing  to  a  deaf  man,  who  had 
also  an  impediment  in  his  speech,  Jesus  wet  his 
fingers,  and  put  them  in  the  man's  ears,  and  touched 
his  tongue,  and  looked  up  to  Heaven,  and  sighed, 
or  drew  a  long  inhalation ;  by  which  simple  means, 
as  the  man  was  deaf,  and  could  have  had  his  faith 
in  Jesus  awakened  by  nothing  he  had  heard,  Jesus 
communicated  his  will  to  the  man,  made  him  under- 
stand his  purpose,  and  so  stimulated  the  man's  will, 
the  hidden  spring  of  vitality  and  cure,  and  thus 
caused  him  to  co-operate  with  the  power  of  Jesus 
himself,  in  effecting  the  cure.     But  to  return. 

He  entered  Jericho  accompanied  by  an  immense 

throng.     The  crowd  was  so  great,  that  a  certain 

tax-gatherer,  named  Zaccheus,  a  man  of  diminutive 

stature,  and  on  this  account,  I  suppose,  as  well  as 

16 


182  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

on  account  of  his  office,  an  object  of  public  con- 
tempt and  derision,  ran  and  climbed  up  into  a  tree, 
to  get  sight  of  Jesus  as  he  passed.  When  Jesus 
reached  the  tree  he  looked  up  and  saw  Zaccheus, 
and  bade  him  come  down,  for  he  was  going  to 
take  up  his  abode  at  his  house.  Zaccheus,  of  whom 
Jesus  appears  to  have  had  some  knowledge,  de- 
scended with  alacrity,  delighted  at  the  idea  of  being 
honored  by  such  a  guest.  Among  the  crowd  were 
many  people  of  standing  and  respectability,  drawn 
to  the  spot  by  curiosity ;  and  when  they  witnessed 
this  incident,  they  expressed  their  surprise  at  the 
selection,  out  of  all  that  multitude,  of  such  a  host. 
I  suppose  only  the  meanest  of  the  people  would 
enter  the  house  of  a  publican.  But  what  took 
place  there  shows  that  Zaccheus  was  worthy  of  the 
honor  that  was  done  him  ;  for  he  stood  up  and  said : 
^'Behold!  Master,  the  half  of  my  goods  I  give  to 
the  poor ;  and  if  I  have  wronged  any  man  in  any- 
thing, I  restore  him  fourfold."  And  Jesus  said, 
*'  This  day  is  salvation  come  to  this  house." 

As  Jesus  drew  near  to  Jerusalem,  and  the  crowd 
increased,  and  the  excitement  spread,  and  he  no 
longer  sought  to  allay  it  by  withdrawing  himself 
from  public  notice,  as  he  had  been  wont  to  do  at  an 
earlier  period,   the  idea  went   abroad  among   the 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  183 

miiltltudej  that  something  great  and  -^'onderful  was 
about  to  happen,  that  the  kingdom  of  Heaven 
would  shortly  appear.  And  then  it  was  that  he 
told  the  parable  of  the  Talents ;  which,  being 
interpreted,  asserts  the  eternal  law,  whereby  men 
are  rewarded  according  to  the  use  made  of  the 
power  originally  given  them;  and,  rightly  under- 
stood, it  admonished  the  people  that  their  admis- 
sion to  the  coming  kingdom  would  be  regulated 
by  this  law.  In  various  teachings  and  parables, 
he  cautioned  the  crowds  that  gathered  round  him 
to  take  care  and  watch  with  their  utmost  attention ; 
for,  much  as  they  expected  the  Messiah,  he  would 
appear  at  a  moment  when  they  were  not  looking 
for  him,  and  woe  unto  them,  if  he  should  find  them 
unprepared !  To  this  point  looks  the  parable  of 
the  Ten  Virgins.  He  told  the  people  that  when 
that  event  should  come,  which  they  were  so  eagerly 
expecting,  when  the  Messiah  should  be  seated  on 
his  throne,  and  all  nations  be  brought  under  his 
sway,  in  other  words,  when  the  new  era,  the  next 
age,  should  begin,  men  would  be  rewarded  or  pun- 
ished, not  as  Jews  and  Gentiles,  but  as  they  were 
merciful  or  unjust ;  that  the  true  heirs  of  the 
heavenly  kingdom  would  be,  not  the  descendants 
of  Abraham,  but  those  who  had  abounded  in  the 


184  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

offices  of  humanity,  who  had  done  good  to  the 
least  and  most  despised  of  mankind.  By  these 
instructions,  he  took  the  weak  and  the  wronged 
under  his  special  protection ;  and  has,  in  the 
directest  manner,  taught  us,  of  this  remote  day,  as 
we  would  honor  the  highest,  to  be  considerate  of 
the  lowest ;  declaring  that  he  would  account  any 
neglect  of  the  humble  as  a  neglect  of  himself  per- 
sonally, and  any  concern  shown  for  the  poor  and 
injured,  as  an  honor  done  to  him. 

It  may  have  been  at  Jericho,  which  was  situated 
near  the  northern  boundary  of  Judea,  or  rather, 
perhaps,  at  some  place  nearer  Jerusalem,  that  Jesus 
received  a  message  from  the  sisters  of  Lazarus, 
informing  him  that  his  friend,  their  brother,  was 
sick.  It  is  not  at  all  probable  that  this  was  all  the 
intelligence  that  they  sent  him,  or  that  it  was  re- 
ceived by  him  without  any  inquiry  of  the  messenger 
as  to  the  particulars  of  the  illness  of  his  friend. 
It  is  only  natural  to  suppose  that  Jesus  learned 
enough  from  the  messenger  to  satisfy  him  that 
Lazarus  was  at  the  point  of  death.  He  did  not, 
however,  immediately  go  to  Bethany,  as  Martha 
and  Mary,  no  doubt,  fondly  expected;  but,  declar- 
ing that  it  was  rather  the  glory  of  God  than  death 
which  would  be  the  end  of  this  sickness,  he  continued 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  185 

two  days  longer  in  the  place  where  he  was.  After 
that,  he  proposed  to  his  disciples  to  go  into  Judea. 
And  when  they  expressed  surprise  at  the  thought 
of  his  going  so  near  Jerusalem,  where,  on  his  last 
visit  to  that  place,  some  persons  had  been  on  the 
point  of  stoning  him,  he  said  that  he  must  avail 
himself  of  the  light  of  day  while  it  lasted;  inti- 
mating, I  think,  that  his  opportunities  were  drawing 
to  a  close,  and  that  the  night  was  at  hand.  He 
then  said  that  their  friend  Lazarus  was  sleeping, 
and  that  he  would  go  and  awaken  him.  Their 
reply  to  this  remark  appears  to  indicate  that  they 
knew  that  Lazarus  was  very  ill,  and  in  all  proba- 
bility was  now  dead.  "If  he  sleep,"  said  they, 
''he  will  do  well."  Jesus,  so  John  tells  us,  meant 
that  Lazarus  was  dead.  And  when  he  found  that 
they  did  not  understand  him,  he  said  plainly  that 
Lazarus  was  dead,  and  that  he  was  glad  that  he 
was  not  there  to  heal  him,  in  order  that  their  faith 
might  receive  new  and  greater  confirmation. 

"When  it  became  apparent  that  it  was  the  purpose 
of  their  master  to  go  to  Bethany,  and  expose  him- 
self to  the  violence  of  his  enemies,  'Let  us  also  go,' 
said  one  of  the  disciples,  'that  we  may  die  with 
him ;'  thus  giving  utterance  to  that  strong  personal 
affection,  which  had  grown  up  almost  unconsciously 
16* 


186  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

in  their  bosoms,  and  which  now  led  them  to  con- 
template a  fate  utterly  inconsistent  with  their  long- 
cherished  expectations. 

When  they  reached  Bethany,  they  found  that 
Lazarus  had  been  buried  four  days.  Martha  and 
Mary  were  surrounded  by  friends  from  Jerusalem, 
who  had  come  to  condole  with  them.  Martha,  as 
we  may  judge  from  the  few  but  characteristic 
^glimpses  that  we  catch  of  her,  was  engaged  in  the 
active  cares  of  the  household,  and  she  naturally 
received  the  first  intelligence  of  the  approach  of 
Jesus.  The  delay  in  his  coming  they  had  found  it 
difficult,  I  suppose,  to  reconcile  with  his  love  for 
their  brother.  Again  and  again  must  the  sisters 
have  said  to  themselves  and  to  one  another,  '  If  the 
master  were  only  here,  Lazarus  might  be  restored.' 
The  same  thought  burst  from  the  lips  of  Martha,  as 
soon  as  she  saw  Jesus  :  "  Master,  if  thou  hddst  been 
here,  my  brother  had  not  died ;  but  I  know  that 
even  now  w^hatsoever  thou  wilt  ask  of  God,  God 
will  give  it  thee."  In  so  saying,  she  appears  to 
have  meant  that  Jesus  might,  even  then,  restore 
her  brother ;  but  when  Jesus  told  her,  in  so  many 
words,  that  her  brother  should  rise  again,  the  idea 
seems  to  have  been  too  much  for  her ;  and  she  fell 
back  upon  her  faith  in  the  final  rising  of  the  dead, 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  187 

and  said,  "  I  know  that  he  "will  rise  again  in  the 
resurrection  at  the  last  day."  Jesus  said  to  her, 
"  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life :  he  that  be- 
lieveth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  jet  shall  he 
live ;  and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  me  will 
never  die.     Believest  thou  this  ?" 

Jesus  has  been  understood  as  if  he  intended,  in 
these  remarkable  words,  to  state  a  universal  truth, 
or  general  doctrine.  Undoubtedly,  a  universal 
truth  is  deducible  from  these  words :  and  they  have 
the  form  of  general  propositions.  But  we  must 
remember  that  both  Jesus  and  Martha  were  en- 
grossed with  one  thought,  the  idea  of  Lazarus ;  and 
that  nothing  is  more  natural  than  to  express  strong 
emotion  or  deep  conviction,  in  general  terms.  Al- 
though, at  first  sight,  Jesus  appears  to  state  general 
propositions,  yet  I  conceive  that  he  intended  to  be 
understood,  and  that  he  was  understood  by  Martha, 
precisely  as  if  he  had  said,  '  I  give  life,  I  will  raise 
your  dead  brother.  Though  he  is  dead,  yet  he 
believed  in  me,  and  he  will  come  to  life  again ;  and 
you  who  are  alive  and  believe  in  me,  will  never  die. 
Bo  you  believe  what  I  say  ?'  Martha  answered  in 
the  affirmative ;  but  it  is  evident  that  his  sayings 
were  too  great  for  her  —  that  she  was  staggered ; 
for  again  she  retreated  upon  her  settled  belief  in 


188  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

Jesus,  as  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  who  was  to 
come  into  the  world.  She  was  not  equal  to  the 
great  thoughts  which  he  uttered.  They  startled 
and  confounded  her  matter-of-fact  mind;  and,  un- 
able to  sustain  the  conversation,  and  aware  that 
Mary  should  hear  these  things,  she  retired  to  call 
her  sister,  who  was  secluded  in  the  house,  sur- 
rounded by  her  friends,  and  to  whom  she  whispered 
that  Jesus  had  come,  and  wished  to  see  her.*  Mary 
arose  hastily,  and  accompanied  her  sister,  without 
saying  a  word.  Her  friends,  supposing  that  she 
was  going  to  visit  the  grave  of  her  brother,  folloAved 
her.  When  she  reached  the  spot  where  Jesus  was, 
and  where  Martha  had  left  him,  outside  the  village, 
she  fell  down  at  his  feet,  and  bursting  into  tears, 
said,  as  Martha  had  done,  "  Master,  if  thou  hadst 
been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died."  And  her 
friends,  who  had  followed  her,  wept  also. 

Tliis  scene  of  sorrow — what  a  chord  must  it  have 
struck  in  the  bosom  of  Jesus  !  Well  do  we  read  that 
he  sighed  deeply  and  was  overcome  at  the  sight  of 
all  this  mourning.  He  was  then  in  mortal  peril 
himself.  He  accounted  himself  doomed  to  death. 
In  a  few  days,  he  was  himself  to  die  under  the  most 
appalling  circumstances.  There  was  no  one  to 
sympathize  with  him,  and,  by  sympathy,  to  lighten 
*  See  Note  N. 


HISTOEY    OF    JESUS.  189 

the  weight  which  was  pressing  with  increasing  force 
on  his  heart.  Had  he  been,  on  this  occasion,  only 
momentarily  affected,  we  might  suppose  that  he 
was  moved  to  grief  only  by  sympathy  with  the 
grief  that  he  was  witnessing.  But  he  knew  his 
own  purpose  of  restoring  Lazarus  to  life,  and  he 
knew,  of  course,  that  these  mourners  would  soon  be 
overpowered  with  rapturous  joy.  And  though  he 
knew  this,  his  sadness  continued.  He  wept.  He 
asked  where  they  had  laid  Lazarus.  They  invited 
him  to  visit  the  grave.  And  the  persons  present 
wondered  to  see  him  weep,  and  thought  how  he 
must  have  loved  the  dead  man,  and  that  it  was 
strange  that  he,  who  had  given  sight  to  the  blind, 
had  not  saved  Lazarus  from  dying.  Again  he 
sighed  deeply,  when  they  came  to  the  grave. 

What  a  profound  sorrow  must  that  have  been, 
from  which  the  prospect  of  performing  a  mighty 
miracle,  a  miracle  that  would  fill  all  the  beholders 
with  speechless  wonder,  could  not  divert  him  !  May 
we  presume  to  interpret  that  sorrow,  and  reverently 
conjecture  what  was  passing  in  his  mind,  as,  sur- 
rounded by  that  weeping  company,  he  was  going  to 
visit  a  grave?  Bound  to  his  fellow-men  by  the 
strongest  sympathies,  he  was  separated  from  them 
all.      None  understood  him.      He  had  no  one  to 


190  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

share  either  his  deepest  sorrows  or  his  highest  joys. 
Peculiarly  formed  to  sympathize  and  to  be  sympa- 
thized with,  yet,  as  to  those  things  which  lay  nearest 
his  heart,  he  was  denied  all  the  support  and  consola- 
tion which  human  hearts  could  have  given  him.  He 
was  alone  in  the  world.  The  tokens  of  sorrow  and 
death  that  now  surrounded  him,  the  sight  of  a 
grave,  —  with  what  fearful  distinctness  must  they 
have  brought  up  before  him  that  terrible  fate,  that 
was  now  close  at  hand ;  a  fate,  to  all  human  seem- 
ing, so  dark,  that  it  might  well  appal  the  stoutest 
heart !  The  very  tenderness  of  nature  that  prompt- 
ed him  to  pour  out  his  whole  soul  for  ignorant, 
misguided  and  degraded  men,  that  nerved  him, 
for  the  sake  of  doing  good,  to  encounter  death  in 
any,  the  most  frightful  form,  in  which  it  might 
come  —  the  very  sensibility  that  enabled  him  to 
appreciate  the  sufferings  of  others,  rendered  him 
tenderly  alive  to  his  own  solitary  situation.  Cher- 
ishing godlike  purposes  of  good  to  every  soul  of 
man,  living  only  to  do  good  to  all,  he  saw  that  he 
was  soon  to  die  a  death  of  excruciating  torture, 
misrepresented,  reviled,  and  really  understood  by 
none. 

But  not  only  was  he  without  the  consolation  of 
immediate  human  fellowship,  —  where  in  the  past 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  .     191 

could  he  find  any  support  of  this  kind?  There 
had  not  any  gone  before  him,  with  whom  he  might 
associate  himself  in  imagination,  as  every  sufferer 
for  Truth's  sake  may  now  associate  himself  with 
Jesus,  and  find  strength  in  communion  with  beings 
like  himself.  He  had  risen  to  a  height  of  Truth 
and  Love,  not  in  speculation  merely,  but  in  his 
actual  life,  whither  no  one  had  preceded  him.  To 
the  highest  and  dearest  purposes  of  his  being  he 
was  here  in  the  boundless  universe  with  God,  and 
there  was  no  other.  His  position  was  without  pre- 
cedent. And  the  only  support  he  had  was  that 
which  did  indeed  support  him,  faith  in  the  Invisible 
Spirit,  the  Everlasting  Father ;  that  greatest  faith, 
which  the -highest  intelligences  can  entertain ;  that 
faith  which,  simple  and  universal  as  it  may  be,  in 
one  form  or  another,  is  nevertheless  so  ethereal, 
that  it  requires  the  greatest  elevation  of  mind,  the 
regeneration  of  one's  whole  being,  in  order  to  seize 
it,  to  keep  it,  to  make  it  palpable  to  the  heart,  —  a 
full  and  sufficing  spring  of  strength  amidst  the  un- 
tried emergencies  of  being.  This  faith  in  God  did 
sustain  the  man  of  Nazareth,  as  I  have  said.  It 
bore  him  triumphantly  on  to  the  end,  and  changed 
the  vile  cross  on  which  he  died,  into  the  most 
glorious  symbol  of  power  that  the  world  has  ever 


192  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

known,  and  made  him  the  guiding  star  of  nations. 
But  "what  a  great  nature  does  it  imply  in  him,  that 
he  was  able,  under  such  circumstances,  to  be  sus- 
tained in  a  way  so  purely  spiritual ! 

Still,  his  human  affections  wfere  not  annihilated. 
They  were  not  weakened  even.  They  were  only 
refined ;  made  stronger,  more  susceptible.  And  how 
could  it  be,  but  that  he  should  be  painfully  aware 
of  the  absence  of  those  supports  which  his  very 
nature  craved?  As  he  approached  the  close  of 
his  life,  which  was  to  terminate  amidst  agony  and 
scorn,  I  cannot  wonder  that  the  gloomy  prospect 
should  have  so  engrossed  him,  as  to  connect  itself 
with  almost  every  incident  that  occurred.  I  should 
rather  wonder,  had  it  been  otherwise.  When  I 
endeavor  to  image  to  myself  the  appearance  of 
Jesus  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  and  see  those  tears 
falling,  and  hear  those  heavy  sighs,  and  trace  them 
to  the  sense  of  his  own  desolation,  awakened  in 
him  by  the  signs  of  sorrow  and  death  around  him, 
I  have  his  nature  and  my  own  revealed  to  me.  I 
enter  into  his  heart,  or  he  enters  into  mine.  I  un- 
derstand him  better,  through  one  and  the  same 
nature,  common  to  us  all.  I  see  that  he  is  related 
to  me  by  a  most  sacred  and  intimate  tie.  This 
view  of  the  melancholy  of  Jesus  at  the  grave  of 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  193 

Lazarus  creates  in  us  a  conviction,  not  only  of  his 
reality,  but  of  his  near  relationship  to  us  all.  We 
are  brought  into  communion  with  him ;  and  if  with 
him,  then  with  all  the  Truth  and  Goodness  which 
were  the  being  of  his  being. 

Let  it  not  be  said  that  this  representation  of  the 
case  implies  that  he  was  overcome  by  a  selfish 
sorrow.  Had  he  been  insensible  to  the  fate  that 
he  saw  awaited  him,  to  the  isolation  in  which  he 
lived  and  was  about  to  die,  it  would  have  evinced, 
not  a  generous,  but  a  hard,  insensible  nature.  As 
it  was,  there  is  revealed  in  him  simply  a  tender, 
human  nature.  Why  did  he  long  so  for  human 
sympathy,  that  he  wept  and  groaned  as  he  thought 
how  it  was  utterly  denied  him  ?  It  was  dear  to 
him,  because  he  desired  nothing  more  earnestly 
than  to  communicate  to  others  the  unspeakable 
good  which  he  possessed  himself.  Why  did  he 
love  his  fellow-men,  but  that  he  longed  that  they 
should  be  at  one  with  him,  as  he  was  one  with  the 
eternally  Good  and  True  ?  He  knew  what  was  in 
men.  Through  all  the  scars  and  defacements  of 
moral  evil,  he  beheld  in  them  angelic  natures, 
power  to  receive  all  that  he  had  received ;  and 
therefore  he  groaned  and  wept,  when  he  felt  that 
in  a  world  of  such  beings  he  was  all  alone,  and 
17 


194  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

that  he  was  about  to  be  driven  out  of  life  with 
shame  and  violence. 

To  perceive  that  his  melancholy  was  untainted 
by  selfishness,  consider  that,  when  he  was  thus  de- 
pressed, he  had  it  in  mind  to  summon  the  dead 
man  from  the  mysterious  sleep  of  the  grave — to  do 
a  work  which  would  make  the  eyes  of  all  present 
dilate  with  inexpressible  wonder,  and  their  hearts 
beat  with  a  new  and  wild  joy.  Had  his  tears  been 
selfish,  would  they  not,  as  he  approached  the  grave, 
have  ceased  to  flow,  in  the  prospect  of  producing 
so  grand  an  efi'ect,  and  of  attracting  to  himself  the 
reverent  gaze  of  men  ?  The  thought  of  what  was 
impending  over  him  would  have  been  superseded 
for  awhile  by  the  absorbing  interest  of  the  act  he 
was  about  to  perform.  The  glorious  brightness  of 
the  present  moment  would  have  concealed,  for  a 
brief  interval,  at  least,  the  darkness  of  the  coming 
hour. 

This,  this  is  the  great  circumstance,  the  signet  of 
his  truth :  the  godlike  self-forgetfulness  with  which 
he  wrought  the  restoration  of  Lazarus.  This  suf- 
fices to  satisfy  me  that  the  miracle  was  wrought. 
Wonderful  as  the  event  was,  transcending,  as  it 
confessedly  does,  all  the  limits  of  our  experience, 
still,  no  one  can  pronounce  it  an  impossibility,  in 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  195 

the  nature  of  things.  No  one  can  say  that  there 
are  not  laws  in  nature  by  which  such  an  effect 
might  be  produced ;  for  who  knows  ?  Have  we 
not  had  facts  enough,  of  late,  which  have  compelled 
the  most  incredulous  to  admit  this  much,  at  least : 
that  there  are  laws  of  nature,  of  our  own  nature, 
indeed,  mysterious  in  their  operation,  which  have 
been  hardly  dreamed  of  by  our  profoundest  science  ? 
But,  be  this  as  it  may,  the  great  wonder  in  the 
account  of  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  the  miracle  of 
the  miracle,  is,  in  my  apprehension,  not  the  appear- 
ance of  Lazarus  at  the  mouth  of  the  tomb,  stagger- 
ing in  the  grave-clothes,  in  which  he  was  wrapped 
head  and  foot  —  not  there  does  the  special  wonder 
of  the  thing  break  upon  my  sight.  But  it  is  Jesus 
himself  who  fascinates  my  gaze ;  and  in  those  eyes, 
yet  glistening  with  those  immortal  tears,  in  that 
bosom,  which  has  scarcely  yet  ceased  heaving  with 
the  unutterable  groans  of  our  common  humanity, 
in  the  sublime  self-forgetfulness  with  which  he 
breaks  the  slumber  of  the  dead,  in  the  entire  ab- 
sence of  everything  like  self-elation,  in  the  simple, 
unborrowed  majesty,  with  which  the  thing  is  done, 
I  behold  incarnated  the  purest  spirit  of  the  very 
same  power  which  is  working  miracles  just  as  real, 
only,  alas !  for  our  blindness,  more  familiar,  at  this 


196  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

very  moment,  and  at  all  moments,  all  around  and 
within  us.  I  see  God,  the  very  same  God,  who  is 
working  everywhere  in  this  boundless  universe,  that 
stretches  and  towers  so  grandly  all  about  us,  —  I 
see  him  as  truly,  nay,  even  more  fully,  in  Jesus  at 
the  grave  of  Lazarus,  than  anyvfhere  else  within 
the  sphere  of  my  vision  ;  or,  if  the  phrase  is  pre- 
ferred, I  see  Nature,  in  its  inimitable  simplicity  and 
power,  as  clearly  as  I  see  it  in  anything  that  exists. 
And,  seeing  God  in  the  godlike  spirit  of  Jesus,  I 
cannot  wonder  that  he  that  was  dead  came  forth. 
The  wonder  would  have  been,  had  he  not  come 
forth ;  for  when  Nature  commands,  when  the  omni- 
potent God  speaks,  his  voice  must  be  obeyed. 

Let  not  the  story  of  Lazarus,  then,  be  accounted 
a  fiction.  Show  me  first  the  man  that  is  able  to 
conceive  of  a  new  substance,  a  new  plant,  a  new 
particle  of  the  vilest  dust,  having  no  prototype  in 
any  previously-existing  atom  of  matter;  and  then 
I  may  begin  to  doubt  the  truth  of  this  account.  I 
could  just  as  easily  believe  in  the  ability  of  the 
human  mind  to  imagine  a  new  animal,  which,  while 
it  should  be,  in  all  its  habits  and  structure,  an 
original  creation,  difi*erent  from  all  other  animals, 
should  yet  harmonize  with  all,  and  with  all  nature, 
as  I  could  in  the  power  of  any  mind,  however  in- 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  197 

genious,  to  represent  such  an  act  as  the  raising 
of  Lazarus,  at  once  so  thoroughly  original,  and 
so  thoroughly  natural,  if  that  act  were  not  real. 
How  much  more  apparent  becomes  the  impossibility 
of  such  a  fiction,  when  we  consider  the  whole 
character  of  Jesus,  on  the  one  hand,  and  see,  as 
we  may,  how,  from  those  brief  and  careless  records, 
we  may  gather  the  idea  of  a  being,  complete,  and 
in  keeping  with  himself  and  with  all  things,  and 
not  only  so,  but  a  new  illustration  of  the  truth  of 
nature ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  character  of 
the  age  and  people,  uncultured  and  superstitious, 
among  whom  he  appeared.  That  there  may  be  a 
mixture  of  the  fabulous  in  the  history  of  Jesus,  I 
do  not  deny,  I  admit  to  a  certain  extent.  It  would 
be  strange,  were  it  not  so.  But  still,  that  the 
story,  substantially,  in  regard  to  all  the  principal 
facts,  should  be  fictitious,  is  just  as  impossible  as 
that  we  should  be  able  to  imagine  a  new  creature. 

But  I  have  wandered  far.  We  left  Jesus  and 
the  mourning  company  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus. 
It  was  a  cave  closed  with  a  great  stone.  Jesus 
directed  the  stone  to  be  removed.  Martha,  consti- 
tutionally incapable  of  that  profound  reverence 
which  characterized  her  sister,  and  which  forbade 
Mary  to  question  the  propriety  of  anything  he 
17* 


198  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

miglit  do,  interfered,  suggesting  that  as  Lazarus 
had  been  so  long  buried,  the  corpse  must  be  offen- 
sive. '  Have  I  not  told  you,'  said  Jesus  to  her, 
'  that  if  you  would  believe,  you  should  witness  the 
glorious  power  of  God?'  And  then  he  raised  his 
eyes  to  Heaven,  and  said,  "Father,  I  thank  thee 
that  thou  hast  heard  me,  and  I  know  that  thou 
hearest  me  always,  but,  for  the  sake  of  these  who 
are  standing  here  I  thank  thee,  that  they  may 
believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me."  And  when  he 
had  so  said,  he  called  out  with  a  loud  voice,  "  Laza- 
rus !  come  forth !  And  he  that  was  dead  came 
forth,  bound  hand  and  foot  with  grave-clothes,  and 
his  face  was  bound  about  with  a  cloth."  At  the 
apparition  of  the  dead  man  at  the  mouth  of  the 
sepulchre,  struggling,  in  the  ample  folds  of  his 
shroud,  to  get  free,  the  people  stood  transfixed  with 
amazement  and  fear.  Jesus  recalled  them  to  their 
senses,  by  calmly  bidding  them  go  to  the  assistance 
of  Lazarus,  and  unloosen  the  grave-clothes,  and  set 
him  free. 

Lazarus  had  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus,  and  with  the 
image  of  his  venerated  friend  cherished  in  the  in- 
nermost shrine  of  his  life.  He  had  died  with  that 
living  principle  of  faithful  affection  in  his  heart, 
which  is  out  of  the  reach  of  all  physical  changes. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  199 

He  was  in  close  and  vital  sympathy  with  Jesus. 
We  know  nothing  of  death,  except  in  its  effect  on 
the  body.  We  can  mark  the  instant  the  physical 
functions  cease.  But  we  do  not  know  at  all  how 
death  affects  the  intellectual  being;  whether  the 
connection  of  that  with  the  body  is  severed  irrevo- 
cably when  the  heart  ceases  to  beat,  or  whether  the 
interior  life  retires  gradually  from  its  fellowship 
with  the  physical  frame. 

Believing  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus  to  be  a 
fact,  I  infer  from  it  that  the  connection  of  the  body 
and  the  mind  is  not  so  entirely  and  instantaneously 
destroyed  by  what  we  pronounce  death,  but  that, 
under  such  conditions  as  were  fulfilled  in  the  case 
of  Jesus  and  Lazarus,  the  mind  may  be  remanded, 
some  days  after  death  has  occurred,  to  reanimate 
the  lifeless  body.  Lazarus  had  sunk  into  the  last 
sleep  with  that  confidence  in  his  revered  friend,  by 
which  Jesus  himself  had  just  said  that,  though  he 
were  dead,  he  should  yet  live  again  ;  and  which 
caused  the  loud  command  of  that  beloved  voice  to 
reach  Lazarus,  asleep  in  death,  and  be  heard  by 
him  and  obeyed.  And  it  was  on  account  of  this 
faith  in  him,  which  Lazarus  cherished,  that  Jesus 
thanked  God  that  He  had  heard  him.  It  certainly 
was  not  merely  for  the  opportunity  of  raising  a  dead 


200  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

man  that  he  gave  thanks.  If  he  had  sought  such 
an  opportunity,  he  could  have  had  it  at  any  time. 
But,  as  I  conceive,  he  rejoiced  that,  in  God's 
good  providence,  the  dead  man  was  one  who  had 
died  in  faith,  and  whose  faith  rendered  it  possible 
for  him  to  be  heard  and  obeyed,  even  in  the  realms 
of  death.  Jesus  was  always  praying  for  oppor- 
tunities to  manifest  and  deepen  the  force  of  Truth ; 
and  now  an  occasion  had  come,  when  the  Truth 
could  be  illustrated  by  the  power  of  a  faith  which 
had  Truth  for  its  object  and  end;  and  not  mere 
power,  but  the  power  of  faith,  would  be  seen ;  and 
for  this  he  thanked  Heaven. 

It  may  be  asked  how  this  explanation  meets  the 
other  cases  of  the  raising  of  the  dead.  Jesus 
raised  two  others.  There  is  no  mention  of  any 
faith  which  they  cherished  in  him.  No,  but  they 
were  both  young  persons ;  one  was  a  little  girl  of 
twelve  years  of  age,  and  the  other  is  represented 
as  a  young  man.  How  young  we  do  not  know. 
But  we  know  this,  that  Jesus  spoke  in  a  peculiar 
manner  of  the  young ;  describing  little  children  as 
the  representatives  of  the  kingdom  of  God;  and 
his  words  were  never  without  meaning.  Between 
him  and  the  young,  then,  there  was  a  living  sym- 
pathy.     They  were  in  the   same   sphere.      They 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  201 

were  related  to  one  another  by  indestructible  ties. 
And  we  may  believe  that  the  widow's  son,  whom  he 
recalled  to  life,  was  neither  so  old,  nor  yet,  before 
he  died,  buried  so  deeply  under  the  materializing 
influences  of  the  world,  nor,  when  Jesus  met  his 
bier,  so  long  dead,  but  that  the  voice  of  Jesus, 
expressive  of  the  mighty  power  of  faith,  could  reach 
him  and  summon  him  back. 

In  all  these  cases,  let  it  be  considered  that  Jesus 
spoke  to  the  dead.  He  called  to  them,  and  they 
awoke.  Now  let  it  be,  after  all  that  has  been  sug- 
gested, that  we  cannot  form  the  slightest  shadow 
of  a  conjecture  as  to  the  manner  in  which  they 
were  restored  to  life,  nevertheless  my  reverence  for 
the  singleness  of  his  character  utterly  forbids  me 
to  consider  him  as  speaking,  and  speaking,  too,  so 
earnestly  and  authoritatively  as  he  did,  when  he 
commanded  the  dead  to  live  again,  if  he  did  not 
know  that  he  would  be  heard.  He  spoke  then,  as 
always,  in  perfect  good  faith  ;  and  although  we  may 
be  entirely  at  a  loss  to  conceive  how  the  dead  could 
hear,  yet  I  must  believe  that  they  did  hear  him, 
and  that  the  word  of  authority  which  he  spake  to 
the  dead,  brief  as  it  was,  was  the  true  expression 
of  the  power  by  which  the  mighty  wonder  was 
wrought,  and  not  a  mere  show  or  magical  formula, 


202  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

having  no  natural,  but  only  an  arbitrary  connection 
with  the  efficient  cause  of  these  miracles. 

The  voice  of  Jesus !  It  penetrated  the  grave. 
It  is  sounding  through  the  ages,  speaking  the 
Everlasting  Gospel  of  Truth,  awakening  the  Divine 
Life  within  us ;  now  wrapped  all  around  with  the 
shroud  of  death,  and  slumbering  in  the  grave.  He 
calls  it  to  come  forth,  and  he  commands  it  to  be 
set  free. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

A  COUNCIL   OF   THE    PRIESTS  —  JESUS   AT   BETHANY 

MARY PUBLIC    ENTRANCE    INTO   JERUSALEM 

GREEKS PHARISEES THE  LAST    SUPPER 

JUDAS  —  CONSOLATIONS  —  PRAYER. 

Many  of  the  friends  of  Martha  and  Mary,  who 
had  come  from  Jerusalem  to  visit  them,  and  who 
were  present  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  impressed  by 
the  mighty  wonder,  avowed  their  belief  that  Je&us 
was  true,  and  from  God.  But  some  of  them  re- 
turned to  the  city,  and  informed  the  leading  Phari- 
sees of  what  had  taken  place. 

The  Pharisees  and  the  priests  met  in  council,  to 
consider  what  was  to  be  done.  The  popularity  of 
Jesus,  and  the  impression  made  by  the  wonders  he 
was  working,  excited  the  greatest  alarm,  lest  he 
should  carry  the  mass  of  the  people  with  him,  and 

(208) 


204  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

provoke  tlie  jealous  power  of  Rome  to  exterminate 
the  whole  nation.  Not  all  the  members  of  the 
council,  however,  were  hostile  to  Jesus.  Some,  we 
may  suppose,  were  for  moderate  measures,  and  some 
for  doing  nothing.  But  the  chief  priest  overruled 
all  opposition,  and  brought  the  assembly  to  a  deci- 
sion, by  insisting  that  Jesus  should  be  put  to  death ; 
that  one  man  should  die  to  save  the  whole  na- 
tion. 

John,  who  tells  us  of  this  council,  struck  with 
the  coincidence  between  the  opinion  expressed  by 
Caiaphas,  and  the  actual  fact,  that  Jesus  did  sacrifice 
himself  for  the  sake  of  the  people,  has  represented 
the  priest  as  unconsciously  speaking  in  the  pro- 
phetic spirit  of  his  sacred  office. 

These  powerful  enemies  of  Jesus  resolved  that 
he  should  be  arrested  the  first  opportunity  that 
offered,  and  be  put  to  death.  They  did  not  dare  to 
lay  hands  upon  him  in  public,  and  in  open  daylight, 
for  fear  of  a  popular  tumult ;  and  had  it  not  been 
for  the  treachery  of  one  of  his  disciples,  a  much 
longer  time  might  have  elapsed  before  the  person 
of  Jesus  would  have  been  secured. 

Knowing  the  deadly  enmity  he  had  excited,  and 
the  power  of  his  enemies,  he  avoided  showing  him- 
self in  public.     He  retired  for  a  little  while,  with 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  205 

liis  disciples,  from  the  neighborhood  of  Jerusalem, 
and  waited  for  the  festival  of  the  Passover. 

What  with  the  impatient  enthusiasm  of  those 
who  favored  him,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  fierce 
hostility  of  the  priests  and  Pharisees,  on  the  other, 
his  position  was  full  of  difficulty  and  peril.  He 
saw,  with  all  his  wisdom,  and  even  because  of  his 
wisdom,  that  he  could  not  long  continue  the  work 
of  Truth  and  Beneficence  in  which  he  was  engaged, 
without  coming  to  an  issue  fatal  to  his  own  life ; 
and  he  appears  to  have  resolved  that  his  career 
should  terminate  only  under  such  circumstances  as 
would  give  the  greatest  possible  publicity  and  effect 
to  Truth  and  to  his  labors.  Through  his  extraor- 
dinary insight,  he  saw  clearly  that,  so  far  from 
being  defeated  by  death,  he  would  give  a  new  and 
commanding  authority  to  the  words  that  he  had 
spoken,  and  to  the  life  he  had  led,  by  dying  as  he 
was  about  to  do.  He  saw  and  he  declared  that  the 
fate  he  was  to  undergo  would  seal  his  triumph  for- 
ever. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  people  to  resort  to  Jeru- 
salem some  days  before  the  Passover,  to  prepare 
themselves,  by  religious  rites,  for  a  due  observance 
of  that  great  occasion.  Numbers  had  gathered  at 
the  capital  from  the  country,  with  this  design ;  and 
18 


206  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

a  good  deal  of  curiosity  was  expressed  as  to  whether 
they  might  look  for  Jesus.  It  was  known  that  the 
religious  authorities  had  determined  to  arrest  him, 
and  therefore  people  wondered  whether  he  would 
make  his  appearance. 

About  a  week  before  the  Feast,  he  visited  his 
friends  in  Bethany,  which  was  only  a  few  miles 
distant  from  Jerusalem.  He  was  there  hospitably 
entertained.  A  supper  was  made  for  him.  While 
at  supper,  Mary,  the  sister  of  Lazarus,  who  appears 
to  have  regarded  Jesus  with  such  reverence,  that, 
when  he  visited  them,  she  was  wont  to  take  her 
place  at  his  feet,  listening  to  every  word  that  he 
said,  forgetful  of  all  else,  and  to  the  annoyance  of 
her  active  sister,  Martha,  who  immediately  set 
about  the  oflSces  of  hospitality,  on  this  occasion 
brought  an  alabaster  box  of  very  costly  ointment, 
so  rich  that  the  odor  of  it  filled  the  whole  house, 
and  broke  it,  and  poured  it  upon  his  head.  This 
she  did  merely  to  express  her  reverence  for  him. 
But  one  of  his  chosen  disciples,  the  unhappy  victim 
and  slave  of  avarice,  was  angry  at  such  a  waste, 
and  hid  his  meanness  under  a  pretence  of  concern 
for  the  poor ;  to  whose  relief,  the  ointment,  as  he 
said,  had  it  been  sold,  might  have  been  better  ap- 
propriated.    There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  pene- 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  207 

trating  eye  of  Jesus  saw  clearly  into  the  heart  of 
Judas,  and  he  knew  the  evil  passion  by  which  he 
was  actuated,  and  what  would  be  its  fruits.  He 
said  nothing,  however,  in  condemnation  of  his  false 
disciple,  but  only  defended  the  act  of  Mary.  He 
appreciated  the  sentiment  of  respect  and  affection 
by  which  she  was  prompted.  But,  at  the  same 
time,  there  was  continually  present  to  his  mind,  his 
near  and  melancholy  fate.  And  the  ointment,  of  a 
kind  so  costly  as  was,  I  suppose,  rarely  used  for 
the  living,  but  most  often  reserved  for  the  dead, 
had  to  him  the  odor  of  death.  It  smelt  to  him  of 
the  tomb ;  and  it  was  as  if  Mary  were  embalming 
him,  preparing  him  for  the  grave,  which  he  knew 
was  now  very  near.  'Let  her  alone,'  said  he; 
*  against  the  day  of  my  burial  hath  she  kept  this. 
For  the  poor  you  always  have  with  you,  you  will 
always  have  opportunities  of  testifying  your  sym- 
pathy with  them ;  but  you  will  not  always  have  me 
here  ;  soon  you  will  have  no  opportunity  of  showing 
me  any  regard.'  The  allusion  to  his  approaching 
death  is  slight,  but  it  is  full  of  significance. 

Judas,  blinded  by  the  insane  love  of  money,  and 
enraged  that  Jesus  should  have  countenanced  this 
waste,  began  from  this  time  to  meditate  treachery. 
Acquainted  with  all  the  places  which  his  master 


208 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS 


was  wont  to  frequent,  he  sought  an  interview  with 
the  priests,  with  whom  he  bargained  his  ser\dces 
for  gold. 

As  soon  as  it  was  known  in  the  citj,  that  Jesus 
was  at  Bethany,  crowds  went  thither  from  Jerusa- 
lem, to  see,  not  only  Jesus,  but  Lazarus  also ;  and 
those  who  saw  Lazarus,  and  became  acquainted 
with  the  circumstances  of  his  restoration  to  life, 
were  so  much  impressed  thereby,  that  the  priests 
consulted  as  to  the  propriety  of  securing  Lazarus 
also,  and  putting  him  out  of  the  way. 

When  it  became  known  that,  on  a  certain  day 
before  the  Festival,  it  was  the  intention  of  Jesus  to 
go  to  Jerusalem,  the  strangers  who  were  in  the  city, 
waiting  for  the  holidays  to  begin,  and  who  had 
come  from  Galilee  and  other  parts  of  the  country, 
and  were  acquainted  with  his  teachings  and  works, 
went  out  to  meet  him,  with  branches  of  the  palm 
tree,  and  acclamations  of  welcome.  Jesus,  per- 
ceiving that  publicity  could  no  longer  be  avoided, 
and  no  longer  desirous  of  doing  so,  sent  his  disci- 
ples to  procure  an  ass,  upon  which  he  might  ride 
into  the  city.  This  animal,  upon  which  the  ancient 
kings  of  Israel  were  accustomed  to  ride  in  times  of 
peace,  and  when  on  journeys  of  peace  and  not  war, 
signified  to  the  whole  people,  friends  and  foes,  the 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  209 

pacific  spirit  of  the  prophet  of  Nazareth,  and  was 
fitted,  and,  I  think,  expressly  designed  by  him,  to 
allay  any  disposition  to  violence  in  the  populace. 

As  the  vast  throng  approached  the  city,  so  dear 
and  holy  to  the  heart  of  every  Jew,  they  burst 
forth  into  enthusiastic  shouts,  cheering  him  as  the 
long-expected  Messiah,  throwing  down  their  palm- 
branches  in  his  way,  and  spreading  their  garments 
for  him  to  pass  over.  Some  of  the  Pharisees,  who 
had  mingled  with  the  crowd  from  curiosity,  if  with 
no  worse  design,  called  to  him  to  observe  what  the 
people  were  saying,  and  to  check  them.  ''  I  tell 
you,"  said  he,  "that  if  these  were  to  hold  their 
peace,  the  very  stones  would  cry  out;"  intimating, 
I  think,  that  only  hearts  harder  than  stone  could 
keep  silent,  after  such  demonstrations  of  truth  and 
power  as  had  been  witnessed. 

When  the  city,  with  its  magnificent  Temple,  the 
scene  and  the  monument  of  the  renown  of  Israel, 
and  to  which  the  nation  looked  with  an  idolatrous 
afi"ection,  opened  upon  his  sight,  and,  in  prophetic 
vision,  he  beheld  the  Koman  eagles  hovering  over 
their  destined  prey,  ready  with  bloody  beaks  to  rend 
and  tear  it,  he  burst  into  tears,  and  exclaimed,  '  0 
Jerusalem !  Jerusalem !  how  often  would  I  have 
gathered  your  children  together,  as  a  bird  gathcreth 
18* 


210  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

her  young  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not ! 
Hadst  thou  but  known  thy  true  peace,  even  now, 
but  now  it  is  hid  from  thine  eyes !  The  days  are 
coming,  when  thine  enemies  will  lay  siege  to  thee, 
and  level  thee  with  the  ground,  and  thy  children 
within  thee,  and  will  not  leave  one  stone  upon  an- 
other, because  thou  wouldst  not  discern  the  time  of 
thy  salvation.'  As  the  multitude,  descending  from 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  gazed  upon  the  holy  city,  it 
shone  in  the  blended  glory  of  the  future  and  the 
past.  To  their  expectant  sight,  a  new  day  was 
breaking  over  its  glittering  pinnacles  upon  the  long 
night  of  national  subjection.  But  Jesus,  all  un- 
moved by  the  homage  of  the  people,  which  only 
rendered  more  manifest  the  falsehood  of  those  hopes 
that  sealed  the  ruin  of  his  country,  was  weeping ; 
for  he  beheld  the  glory  of  Israel  departing  forever, 
to  be  succeeded  by  woe  and  ruin. 

As  the  mighty  procession  entered  the  city,  as 
their  shouts  came,  like  the  roar  of  billows,  on  the 
ears  of  the  inhabitants,  the  whole  city  was  moved, 
and  people,  unprepared  for  such  an  imposing  de- 
monstration, wondered  who  it  could  be ;  and  the 
multitude,  composed  in  great  part,  as  I  have  said, 
of  persons  from  the  country  and  from  Galilee,  re- 
plied, '  It   is   Jesus,  the    prophet  of  Nazareth  of 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  211 

Galilee.'  To  the  proud  citizens  of  Jerusalem  it 
might  well  seem  a  very  mean  affair ;  for  they  des- 
pised the  Galileans,  and  Nazareth  most  of  all. 
But  so  strongly  did  the  popular  tide  run  in  his 
favor,  that  his  enemies  were  ready  to  despair  of 
being  able  to  resist  it.  It  seemed  to  them,  we  are 
told,  as  if  the  whole  world  were  taking  sides  with 
him. 

Upon  entering  the  city,  he  went  to  the  Temple. 
Again  the  money-changers  and  trades-people,  in 
the  blind  eagerness  of  their  pursuit  of  gain,  and  in 
the  zeal  of  competition,  had  erected  their  booths 
and  stalls  within  that  sacred  enclosure ;  and  again 
he  compelled  them  to  retire,  and  would  not  allow 
so  much  as  any  vessel  to  be  carried  through  the 
Temple.  If,  in  his  solicitude  for  the  sanctity  of 
the  place,  traces  of  his  Jewish  origin  and  culture 
are  thought  to  be  perceptible,  still,  the  wonder  is, 
not  that  he  had  so  many,  but  that  he  had  so  few 
of  the  peculiarities  of  his  age  and  country. 

In  the  Temple,  a  crowd  of  children  thronged 
around  him ;  and,  as  is  always  the  way,  catching 
the  spirit  and  the  word  from  older  people,  shouted 
their  shrill  Hosannas,  and  hailed  him  as  the  Mes- 
siah. The  Pharisees,  outraged  by  this  profane 
clamor,  so  it  seemed  to  them,  wanted  Jesus  to  put 


212  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

a  stop  to  it.  "  Have  you  never  read,"  replied  he, 
"  Out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings  thou 
hast  perfected  praise?"  His  enemies  would  will- 
ingly have  seized  him,  but  it  was  in  vain  to  attempt 
it  while  the  whole  people  seemed  to  be  with  him. 
He  continued  the  remainder  of  the  day  teaching  in 
the  Temple. 

There  were  some  foreigners  at  Jerusalem,  natives 
of  Greece,  who,  with  the  characteristic  curiosity  of 
their  country,  had  come  to  Judea,  to  note,  I  sup- 
pose, the  manners  and  customs  of  this  strange 
people ;  and  were  travelling,  probably,  as  was  the 
practice  much  more,  and  for  obvious  reasons,  in 
ancient  times  than  in  modern,  for  purposes  of  edu- 
cation. Witnessing  the  excitement  produced  by 
the  teacher  and  prophet  from  Galilee,  they  solicited, 
through  his  disciples,  an  interview  with  Jesus. 
Curious  as  they  were  to  see  him,  they  little  ima- 
gined that  all  the  renowned  philosophers  of  their 
native  land  were  destined  to  be  eclipsed  by  this 
unlettered  Galilean.  Whether  their  curiosity  were 
gratified  or  not,  we  are  not  told.  When  their  wish 
was  mentioned  to  Jesus,  it  appears,  by  what  he  is 
recorded  to  have  said,  as  if  the  desire  of  these 
strangers  to  see  him  only  impressed  him  with  a  new 
sense  of  the  fearful  fate  that  awaited  him,  and  by 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  213 

which  his  glory  was  to  be  made  manifest,  and  the 
labors  of  his  life  were  to  be  crowned  with  success. 
Then  it  was  that  he  made  that  remarkable  declara- 
tion, remarkable  for  its  deep,  prophetic  wisdom : 
"Except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and 
die,  it  abideth  alone ;  but  if  it  die,  it  bringeth  forth 
much  fruit."  ^As  it  is  necessary  that  the  seed 
should  be  buried  in  the  earth  and  decay,  so  I  must 
perish,  that  the  fruits  of  my  life  may  abound.' 
Neither  the  interest  shown  in  him  by  these  Greeks, 
nor  the  acclamations  of  the  people,  could  make  him 
forget  the  terrible  death  that  was  impending,  and 
the  necessity  there  was  for  suffering,  if  true  glory, 
honor  with  the  Father,  were  to  be  attained. 

So  vividly,  at  this  time,  did  the  vision  of  his 
dark  destiny  rise  before  him,  that  he  became  agi- 
tated, and.  exclaimed,  ^I  am  distressed,  and  what 
shall  I  say  ?  Shall  I  pray  to  escape  the  coming 
hour  ?  But  for  this  very  hour  have  I  come  thus 
far.  Father,  glorify  thy  Truth,  without  regard  to 
me.'  At  that  instant,  thunder,  distant  it  may  have 
been,  was  heard ;  so,  at  least,  it  appeared  to  the 
people  standing  by.  Some  exclaimed  that  it  was 
an  angel  speaking  to  him.  It  was  interpreted  as 
the  assenting  answer  of  Heaven  to  his  prayer. 
Jesus,  seeing  how  those  around  him  were  startled 


214  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

by  such  a  sound  at  such  a  moment,  disclaimed  it  as 
a  token  intended  for  him ;  it  came,  he  said,  for  their 
sakes. 

At  the  close  of  the  day,  Jesus  retired  from  the 
city  to  Bethany,  where  he  spent  the  night.  No 
doubt,  there  were  those  in  Jerusalem  who  would 
gladly  have  received  him  into  their  houses ;  but  he 
knew  that  his  enemies  were  on  the  watch,  and  he 
preferred  to  withdraw  from  the  city  at  night. 

For  a  day  or  two  afterwards,  he  went  into  the 
city  and  taught ;  the  people  crowding  to  hear  him. 
Then  he  related  those  parables,  which  point,  with  a 
significance  not  to  be  mistaken,  at  the  religious 
teachers  of  the  day,  and  show  how  fully  he  was 
aware  of  their  violent  and  deadly  designs.  Then 
it  was,  also,  that  he  foretold  the  coming  destruction 
of  the  Temple  and  city,  the  appearance  of  many 
pretenders  to  the  office  of  the  Messiah,  and  the 
times  of  suffering  and  persecution  that  were  to  arise, 
when  falsehood  and  treachery  would  abound  among 
the  nearest  friends,  and  when,  so  complete  would 
be  the  darkness  and  the  ruin  in  which  the  nation 
was  to  be  involved,  that  it  would  seem  as  if  chaos 
had  come  again. 

I  cannot  venture  to  interpret  the  prophetic  lan- 
guage of  Jesus  with  any  particularity.     So  much 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  215 

as  this  is  clear,  that  the  coming  events,  of  which  he 
spoke,  were  events  which  were  to  happen,  as  he 
said,  in  that  generation,  and  which  were  visible  to 
him  in  the  existing  signs  of  the  times.  I  am  satis- 
fied that  Jesus  himself  regarded  the  coming  of  the 
Messiah,  or  of  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,  not  as  the 
appearance  of  a  person,  but  as  the  manifestation 
of  the  power  of  Truth.  His  disciples,  however, 
without  an  exception,  and  long  after  his  final  dis- 
appearance, firmly  believed  that  he  was  about  to 
come  back  in  that  visible  splendor,  in  which  the 
Messiah  had  always  been  portrayed  to  their  Jewish 
imaginations.  In  his  private  conversations  with 
them,  just  before  he  was  arrested,  he  told  them  that 
he  would  come  to  them  just  as  God  woulu^  come, 
and  dwell  in  their  hearts,  if  they  only  treasured 
there  his  sayings ;  he  would  be  present  with  them 
and  in  them,  in  the  light  and  life  of  the  Truth. 
While  his  thoughts  were  so  spiritual,  and  theirs  so 
Jewish,  it  becomes  us  to  receive  with  caution  the 
reports  which  they  have  given  of  his  language. 

The  Pharisees,  not  ventui'ing  to  seize  him,  un- 
dertook to  ensnare  him  in  his  talk ;  but,  baffled  and 
silenced  in  such  attempts,  they  soon  ceased  from 
them  altogether.  It  was  with  this  design,  that 
certain  of  this  sect  joined  with  some  partisans  of 


216  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

Herod,  who  was  in  favor  with  the  Roman  govern- 
ment, to  lay  a  trap  for  him.  The  Pharisees  consi- 
dered the  Roman  tax  as  unlawful ;  and  this  was  a 
popular  opinion.  The  Herodians  maintained  the 
lawfulness  of  paying  the  tax  imposed  by  the  Gen- 
tile emperor.  Approaching  Jesus  wuth  expressions 
of  personal  respect,  with  a  compliment  to  his  fear- 
lessness, they  desired  to  know  whether  he  consi- 
dered it  right  to  pay  tribute  to  Caesar.  He  saw 
through  their  duplicity,  and  detected  their  aim. 
They  fancied  they  were  sure  of  catching  him  by 
his  answer.  If  he  should  say  it  was  not  lawful  to 
pay  the  tribute,  he  would  make  the  party  of  Herod 
his  enemies,  and  might  be  charged  with  uttering 
treason!  If  he  should  say  that  it  was  lawful,  he 
would  oifend  the  people.  He  repelled  with  severity 
the  professions  of  respect  made  by  these  questioners. 
'  You  hypocrites !'  he  exclaimed,  ^  why  are  you  trying 
me  ?'  And  then  he  bade  them  show  him  a  piece  of 
the  Roman  coin,  in  which  the  tribute  was  paid. 
They  produced  a  penny.  "Whose,"  he  asked,  "ia 
this  image  and  superscription?"  "Caesar's,"  they 
replied.  "  Render,  then,  to  Caesar  what  is  Caesar's," 
he  said,  "  and  to  God,  what  is  God's."  Confounded 
by  this  answer,  they  retired  in  silence.  By  using 
Roman   money,  the  Jews  virtually  acknowledged 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  217 

themselves  subjects  of  the  Roman  poTver.  The 
tribute  paid  to  the  Temple  could  be  paid  only  in 
Jewish  coin,  on  which  no  Gentile  image  was  stamp- 
ed. "  Wherever  the  coins  of  any  king  are  current," 
says  Maimonides,  a  high  Rabbinical  authority, 
"  there  the  people  acknowledge  that  king  as  their 
lord." 

The  Sadducees,  also,  a  sect  distinguished  for 
denying  the  doctrine  of  immortality,  also  attempted 
to  silence  him,  but  were  discomfited.  No  one  could 
answer  or  question  him.  But  not  only  did  he 
silence  his  enemies,  he  fulfilled  the  prediction  of 
John,  baptizing  with  wind  and  fire  from  Heaven. 
He  poured  out  upon  his  opposers  his  burning  de- 
nunciations, exposing  their  folly  and  blindness,  and 
laying  bare  the  falseness  of  their  pretensions  to 
sanctity :  seekers  of  popularity  were  they,  he  said ; 
making  a  show  of  their  religion,  compassing  sea 
and  land  to  make  proselytes,  whom  they  made 
worse  than  themselves;  hankering  after  wealth, 
beguiling  the  poor  out  of  their  money,  magnifying 
trifling  distinctions ;  whited  sepulchres,  fair  to  see, 
but  inwardly  full  of  dead  men's  bones ;  raising 
monuments  to  the  prophets  whom  their  fathers 
persecuted,  and  persecuting  the  prophets  of  their 
own  day  to  the  death.  If  anything  could  exaspe- 
19 


218  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

rate  them  to  the  last  degree,  it  was  this  bold  and 
severe  speaking.  If  there  had  been  any  wavering 
of  their  hostile  purpose  before,  his  doom  was  sealed 
from  this  hour.  The  priests  resolved  to  seize  him 
before  the  Festival,  in  order  to  avoid  a  popular 
tumult. 

Desirous  of  spending  the  last  hours  which  he  had 
at  his  own  disposal,  with  the  small  company  of  his 
personal  disciples,  and  aware  of  the  designs  that 
were  formed  against  him,  knowing  that  Judas  was 
only  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  give  him  up  into 
the  hands  of  the  priests,  he  sent  two  of  his  friends 
to  obtain  a  room,  where  they  might  meet  in  prepa- 
ration or  observance  of  the  Passover.  When  all 
was  made  ready,  on  the  day  of  the  week  corre- 
sponding to  our  Thursday,  he  sate  down  to  supper 
with  the  Twelve.  To  him  it  was  an  occasion  of 
most  tender  and  melancholy  interest,  the  last  time 
he  was  to  spend  with  them  alone.  He  told  them 
he  had  looked  forward  to  it  with  the  greatest  desire, 
that  it  was  the  last  time  he  should  eat  and  drink 
with  them  before  the  coming  of  the  heavenly  king- 
dom. 

As  he  presided  at  the  table,  when  he  came  to 
break  the  bread  and  pour  out  the  wine,  accus- 
tomed to  see  spiritual  resemblances  in  all  things, 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  219 

the  prospect  of  the  death  he  was  on  the  pomt  of 
suiFering,  standing  grimly  before  him,  he  saw  in 
the  bread  and  wine,  which  feed  and  refresh  men, 
types  of  his  own  body,  about  to  be  broken,  and  his 
blood,  about  to  be  poured  out,  on  the  cruel  cross, 
for  the  sustenance  of  the  world;  and,  in  the  in- 
tensity of  his  mental  suffering,  yearning  for  the 
dear  solace  of  human  sympathy,  he  expressed  his 
earnest  desire  to  be  cherished  in  affectionate  remem- 
brance by  his  friends,  when  they  should  eat  and 
drink  together,  as  they  were  doing  then,  and  he 
should  no  longer  be  present.  They  could  not  then 
enter  into  his  heart,  or  dream  what  a  burthen  it 
was  sustaining ;  of  course,  they  could  not  comfort 
him  as  he  would  gladly  have  been  comforted.  How 
much  he  valued  human  sympathy,  let  his  ready 
acceptance  of  Mary's  costly  offering  remind  us. 
He  longed,  as  it  seems  to  me,  to  throw  himself 
upon  their  bosoms,  and  to  feel  himself  in  the  sooth- 
ing embrace  of  their  affection.  But  as  they  could 
not  understand  him  then,  as  they  were  then  far,  far 
less  prepared  than  he  was  for  what  was  at  hand,  as 
he  knew  that,  in  a  few  hours,  they  would  all  flee, 
and  leave  him  alone  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies, 
he  sought  the  only  human  support  that  was  within 
his  reach,  in  the  prospect  of  being  cherished  there- 


220  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

after,  in  grateful  and  loving  remembrance.  That 
vision  of  future  sympathy,  that  shadow  of  human 
consolation,  was  all  that  this  world  had  to  give  him ; 
and  thus,  I  conceive,  was  he  prompted  to  ask  them 
to  connect  the  thought  of  him  with  the  bread  and 
the  wine  of  which  they  might  partake,  when  they 
should  meet  together,  and  he  should  no  longer  be 
present  in  person.  This  request  of  his  shows  this 
much,  at  least,  that  he  had  no  idea  of  returning  to 
them  personally,  as  they  confidently  expected. 

So  little  were  they  aware  of  the  fearful  events 
that  were  close  at  hand,  that  their  jealousy  of  one 
another  betrayed  itself  even  at  this  late  hour,  and 
while  the  heart  of  Jesus  was  overshadowed  by  the 
deep  gloom  of  the  near  cross.  I  suppose  that  there 
was  some  contention  among  them  for  precedence  at 
the  table.  We  are  told  in  the  record,  that  they 
disputed  which  was  the  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of 
Heaven.  That  such  was  the  nature  of  their  con- 
tention, a  struggle  for  places,  seems  to  be  intimated 
by  the  way  in  which  their  master  proceeded  to 
correct  them.  They  sought  pre-eminence  of  place 
at  supper.  He  performed  for  them  the  office  of  a 
menial  at  the  table.  But  be  this  as  it  may,  if  they 
showed  a  jealous  rivalry  when  they  first  gathered 
round  the  table,  Jesus  permitted  it  to  pass  unnoticed 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  221 

at  tlie  moment ;  but  afterwards,  at  an  interval, 
when  the  formal  supper  was  over,  he  rebuked  their 
selfish  ambition  in  a  manner  never  to  be  forgotten. 
He  silently  rose  from  his  place,  and  laying  aside 
his  principal  garment  or  mantle,  and  taking  a  basin 
and  towel,  he  knelt  down,  and  began  to  wash  their 
feet !  Struck  dumb  in  a  perplexed  astonishment, 
revering  him  too  profoundly  to  dare  to  question,  or 
inquire  even,  what  he  meant,  they  submitted,  one 
after  another,  in  silence,  exchanging  looks  of  wonder 
and  curiosity,  until  he  came  to  one,  who  could  not 
possibly  repress  his  emotion,  and  whose  ardent 
temper,  breaking  out  on  every  occasion,  causes  us 
to  recognize  him  at  once.  *  Master!'  exclaimed 
Peter,  drawing  away  his  feet ;  ^  are  you  going  to 
wash  my  feet?'  'What  I  am  doing,'  replied  Jesus, 
'you  do  not  understand  now,  but  you  shall  know 
by  and  by.'  '  You  shall  never  wash  my  feet !'  pro- 
tested the  disciple.  'If  I  do  not  wash  you,'  said 
Jesus,  with,  I  cannot  but  think,  most  significant 
emphasis,  'you  can  be  no  friend  of  mine.'  'Mas- 
ter!' cried  the  other,  'not  my  feet  only,  but  also 
my  hands  and  my  head  !'  I  see  the  warm-hearted 
disciple,  stretching  out  his  hands  and  his  feet,  offer- 
ing his  whole  person  for  the  welcome  ofiice  that 
should  make  him  his  master's  friend.  '  He  that  is 
19* 


222  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

washed/  answered  Jesus,  *  needs  not  to  be  washed 
with  the  exception  of  his  feet :'  i.  e.  a  person  who 
has  bathed  requires  only  to  have  his  feet  washed, 
—  as,  when  sandals  were  worn,  which  protected 
only  the  soles,  the  feet  might  soon  become  soiled 
with  dust.  '  And  ye  are  washed^  ^  added  Jesus,  '  ye 
have  been  bathed  in  the  cleansing  waters  of  Truth, 
but  not  all ;'  making  a  distant  allusion  to  Judas. 

After  Jesus  had  gone  round,  performing  the  same 
humble  office  for  all,  he  resumed  his  mantle  and  his 
seat,  and  then  explained  what  he  had  been  doing. 
*  Do  you  understand  what  I  have  just  been  doing 
to  you  V  he  asked ;  ^ '  You  call  me  master  and 
lord,  and  you  say,  well,  for  so  I  am.  If  I,  then, 
your  lord  and  master,  have  washed  your  feet,  you 
ought  also  to  be  ready  to  wash  one  another's  feet. 
I  have  given  you  an  example,  that  you  should  yield 
and  defer  to  one  another,  and  be  the  servants,  each 
of  all.'  Thus  he  adopted  the  most  impressive  way 
possible,  to  show  them  how  entirely  out  of  place 
their  mutual  jealousies  were.  Certainly  they  re- 
ceived on  this  occasion  a  lesson  which  they  were  not 
likely  ever  to  forget. 

After  this  admonition,  he  told  them  that  he  was 
not  speaking  to  them  all,  that  he  knew  the  charac- 
ters of  those  whom  he  had  selected,  that  the  words 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  223 

of  the  ancient  Scripture  were  then  and  there  appli- 
cable: "He  that  eateth  bread  -with  me,  hath  lifted 
up  his  heel  against  me;'  i.  e.  ^A  familiar  friend, 
who  shares  my  bread*  with  me,  is  trying  to  over- 
throw me.'  'I  tell  you  of  this,'  he  added,  'before 
it  takes  place,  so  that,  when  it  has  taken  place,  you 
may  recollect  that  I  told  you  of  it ;  and  understand 
that  I  knew  it  all,  and  so  have  your  confidence  in 
me  unshaken.' 

It  is  touching  to  observe  the  manifest  reluctance 
with  which  he  alluded  to  the  treachery  of  one  of 
his  chosen  disciples.  He  referred  to  it,  the  first 
time,  very  distantly.  The  second  time  he  expressed 
himself  more  plainly.  And  finally,  he  was  troubled 
in  spirit,  deeply  moved,  agitated,  when  he  spoke 
out  distinctly,  and  told  them  that  one  of  them  was 
about  to  deliver  him  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies. 
He  had  no  pleasure,  but  it  wounded  him  very  deeply 
to  mention  the  fact.  -  The  grief  which  the  treachery 
of  Judas  caused  him,  shows  that  although  he  had, 
at  an  early  period,  discovered  the  real  character  of 
the  false  disciple^  yet  he  had  once  regarded  Judas 
as  a  friend.  His  sole  reason  for  referring  to  him 
at  all,  was  the  reason  which  he  gave:  that  his 
friends  might  know  that  he  had  not  been  taken 
by  surprise,  and  retain  their  faith  in  him  unshaken. 


224  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

The  veneration  with  which  they  regarded  him, — 
how  incidentally  and  yet  how  clearly  is  it  revealed 
in  the  way  in  which  they  received  this  communica- 
tion !  All  but  Judas  must  have  been  conscious  that 
they  entertained  no  evil  design  against  their  master. 
Yet,  when  he  said  that  one  of  them  was  about  to 
prove  false  to  him,  they  did  not  resent  the  accusa- 
tion. They  knew  that  he  knew  them  better  than 
they  knew  themselves ;  that,  all  unconscious  as 
they  were  of  any  such  treacherous  purpose,  it  was, 
nevertheless,  far  more  likely  that  they  would  prove 
false,  than  that  he  should  utter  a  groundless  charge. 
And  accordingly,  they  ask,  one  after  another, 
"  Master,  is  it  I  ?  Master,  is  it  I  ?" 

Next  to  Jesus  was  his  favorite  disciple,  John, 
who,  reclining  at  table,  according  to  the  custom  of 
the  time,  lay  so  that  his  head  rested  on  the  breast 
of  Jesus.  Peter  beckoned  to  John  to  ask  their 
master  who  it  was  of  whom  Jie  spake ;  and  John 
put  the  question  to  Jesus  in  a  whisper :  '  Lord,  who 
is  it  ?'  Aware,  as  I  suppose,  that  he  was  observed, 
that  Peter  and  others  were  watching  to  hear  what 
he  would  answer,  and  not  wishing  to  excite  them 
against  Judas,  having  no  purpose  but  simply  to  let 
them  know  that  he  knew  beforehand  what  was  going 
to  take  place,  he  answered  John  in  a  whisper,  say- 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  225 

ing :  '  Observe  to  Avhom  I  give  this  piece  of  bread, 
when  I  have  dipped  it ;'  and  taking  a  piece  of  bread, 
and  dipping  it,  as  I  suppose  was  a  custom,  into  the 
dish,  he  handed  it  to  Judas.  John  turned  to  look 
at  Judas,  whose  countenance,  even  though  it  were 
not  darkened  by  the  evil  passions  raging  like  de- 
mons in  his  soul,  must  have  presented  a  totally  new 
and  changed  expression  to  the  amazed  eyes  of  John, 
who,  with  striking  truth  of  language,  has'  said  in 
his  wonderful  narrative  of  these  incidents,  that, 
"after  the  sop,  Satan  entered  into  Judas."  John 
saw  the  devil  in  the  face  of  Judas.  The  traitor, 
thus  brought  face  to  face  with  Jesus,  was  forced  in 
a  manner,  for  appearance's  sake,  to  take  up  the 
general  question ;  and  he,  too,  hoarsely  whispered, 
*' Master,  is  it  I?"  Jesus  answered  in  the  aflSrm- 
ative ;  adding,  in  a  low,  rapid  tone,  '  Whatever  you 
are  going  to  do,  do  it  quickly.'  It  is  apparent, 
from  this  remark,  that  the  agonizing  suspense  of 
his  situation  was  beginning  to  weigh  heavily  on 
Jesus,  and  that  he  longed  to  have  the  horrible  scene 
over.  No  one  at  the  table,  except  John,  knew  what 
was  meant.  They  supposed  Jesus  was  giving  Judas 
some  directions  about  the  Feast. 

Judas  instantly  rose  and  went  out;  "and,"  the 
artless  narrative  adds,  "it  was  night."     Night,  in- 


226  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

deed !  night  of  blackness  and  storm,  night  of  hell, 
in  the  bosom  of  the  traitor,  plotting  against  his  best 
friend,  the  holiest  of  the  sons  of  men !  He  had 
had  until  this  moment,  I  suppose,  only  a  general, 
undefined  purpose  of  evil  against  Jesus.  Because 
opportunity  had  been  wanting,  his  base  design  had 
not  taken  precise  form;  he  would  fain  put  upon 
himself  the  falsehood,  that  his  master  had  accused 
him  without  reason,  and  was  about  to  denounce  him 
to  his  fellow  disciples  before  he  had  done  any  wrong. 
He  went  out  then,  I  imagine,  swearing  in  his  heart 
that,  since  he  was  called  a  traitor  to  his  face,  he 
would  be  a  traitor,  and  would  have  his  revenge 
before  them  all,  for  being  treated  thus. 

While  the  soul  of  Judas  is  wrapped  in  the  mid- 
night darkness  of  his  base  purpose,  the  spirit  of 
him,  against  whom  he  went  to  conspire  with  the 
priests,  is  all  radiant  with  an  ineffable  glory.  That 
Jesus,  in  alluding  to  the  treachery  of  Judas,  had 
no  design  but  the  one  he  stated,  namely,  to  confirm 
the  confidence  of  his  disciples  in  him,  appears  from 
what  passed  after  Judas  had  left  the  place.  Jesus 
did  not  point  after  the  traitor,  but,  in  his  retreating 
steps,  he  caught  the  sound  of  his  own  coming  fate ; 
and  it  broke  upon  him  with  a  new  distinctness.  But, 
black  though  it  was  with  suffering  and  scorn,  yet, 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  227 

with  the  penetrating  vision  of  a  God-inspired  spirit, 
he  pierced  through  all  the  darkness,  and  his  ejes 
lightened  with  that  flood  of  glory  which  has  since 
streamed  from  the  cross  on  which  he  expired,  as  if 
it  were  a  sun !  He  thought  no  more  of  the  false 
disciple;  but  as  death  came  close  to  him,  it  was 
transfigured  into  an  angel  of  the  eternal  Glory. 
In  that  doom,  which  to  all  other  eyes  announced 
defeat  and  ruin,  he  saw  a  magnificent  victory,  as  it 
has  in  truth  proved.  The  death  of  Jesus  put  the 
seal  of  an  immortal  triumph  to  his  life.  And  when 
he  saw  his  hour  of  sufi*ering  so  near  at  hand,  well 
did  he  exclaim,  '  Now  is  the  Son  of  man  glorified, 
and  God  is  glorified  in  him,  and  that  immediately.' 
But,  now  that  the  parting  hour  had  come,  he 
looked  round  upon  his  disciples,  from  whom  he  was 
so  soon  to  be  separated,  and  his  heart  broke  into  a 
sudden  gush  of  tenderness.  '  My  children,'  said  he, 
*  I  shall  be  with  you  only  a  little  while.  You  will 
seek  me ;  and,  as  I  said  to  the  Jews,  so  now  I  say 
to  you,  whither  I  am  going,  you  cannot  go.'  And 
then,  as,  in  the  near  prospect  of  separation,  he  was 
made  so  aware  of  his  afi'ection  for  them,  that  it 
seemed  new  to  him,  and  as  if  he  now  loved  them 
for  the  first  time,  he  added,  ^  A  new  commandment 
I  give  you,  that  ye  love  one  another  as  I  have  loved 


228  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

you.  By  this  will  you  be  known  as  my  disciples, 
if  you  love  one  another.'  He  was  &o  deeply  moved, 
his  tone  was  so  impressive,  that,  bewildered,  filled 
with  dismay  at  the  idea  of  being  deserted  by  him 
now,  when  they  were  so  confidently  thinking  that 
they  were  on  the  eve  of  the  fulfilment  of  their 
splendid  hopes,  ^  where,'  exclaimed  Peter,  *  where 
are  you  going  ?'  '  Whither  I  go,'  answered  Jesus, 
*  you  cannot  follow  me  now,  but  you  shall  follow  me 
hereafter.'  ^Master,'  cried  the  afi*righted,  agonized 
disciple,  ^  why  cannot  I  follow  you  no2V  ?  I  will  lay 
down  my  life  for  your  sake !  Do  not  leave  us. 
Wherever  you  are  going,  let  me  go  with  you.  We 
will  die  for  you.'  'Will  you  lay  down  your  life 
for  my  sake  ?'  said  Jesus ;  '  verily  I  say  to  you, 
another  day  will  not  dawn,  the  cock  will  not  crow, 
till  you  have  thrice  denied  that  you  ever  knew  me !' 
How  much  better  did  Jesus  know  his  disciples  than 
they  knew  themselves !  He  called  them  children, 
not  solely  from  the  impulse  of  his  own  tender  affec- 
tion, but  because,  with  all  their  ambitious  hopes, 
they  manifested  the  artless,  confiding  spirit  of 
children. 

And  now,  too,  when  his  words  had  struck  dismay 
and  despair  to  their  hearts,  and  they  sate  around 
him  with  streaming  tears  and  stifled  sobs,  overcome 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  229 

by  the  prospect  of  separation  from  him,  then-  leader, 
the  fountain  of  their  hopes  and  their  very  life, 
Jesus,  with  a  superhuman  forgetfulness  of  himself 
and  his  own  mighty  sorrow,  although  needing  con- 
solation most  of  all,  gave  himself  wholly  up  to 
the  office  of  comforting  them,  and  suggested  every 
consideration  that  could  compose  and  strengthen 
them. 

As  their  tears  flowed,  *be  not  distressed,'  said 
he,  Hrust  in  God,  trust  in  me.  There  are  many 
other  places  of  abode  in  my  Father's  house  be- 
sides this ;  were  it  not  so,  I  would  have  told  you. 
By  my  going  away,  a  place  will  be  prepared  for 
you;  and  when  that  place  is  prepared  for  you, 
we  shall  be  together  again.*  You  know  where  I 
am  going,  and  you  know  the  way.'  'We  do  not 
know  where  you  are  going,'  sobbed  one  of  them, 
'and  how  can  we  know  the  way?'  'I  am  the 
way,  the  true,  the  living  way,'  said  Jesus,  *I  am 
going  to  the  Father,  and  you  cannot  go  to  the 
Father  but  by  me,  by  following  me.'  '  Show  us  the 
Father,'  said  another,  'and  we  shall  be  satisfied.' 
'  Have  I  been  so  long  with  you  ?'  asked  Jesus  re- 
proachfully, 'and  yet  have  you  not  known  me, 
Philip  ?  In  seeing  me,  you  have  seen  the  Father, 
and  how  can  you  ask  me  to  show  you  the  Father  ? 
*  See  Note  0. 

20 


230  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

Do  you  not  believe  that  the  Father  is  in  me,  and 
that  I  am  in  the  Father  ?  The  words  that  I  speak 
are  not  my  own,  but  it  is  the  Father,  dwelling  in 
me,  who  is  speaking  and  acting  through  me.  Be- 
lieve me,  I  am  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  in  me, 
or,  if  my  declaration  does  not  suffice,  let  my  life 
speak  for  me ;  that  manifests  the  presence  of  the 
Father.  I  assure  you,  if  you  only  believe  in  me 
and  in  the  Father  in  me,  whatsoever  I  do,  you  will 
be  able  to  do  too ;  indeed,  as  I  am  going  to  the 
Father,  and  my  course  on  earth  is  at  an  end,  you 
will  do  greater  things  than  I  have  done.  Anything 
that  as  my  friends,  believing  in  me,  you  may  desire 
to  be  done,  will  be  done,  and  the  glory  of  the 
Father  will  be  manifested.  As  you  love  me, 
observe  what  I  have  commanded  you,  and  I  will 
pray  the  Father,  and  he  will  send  another  to  com- 
fort you  in  my  place,  who  will  never  be  parted  from 
you,  but  remain  with  you  always :  the  True  Spirit, 
to  whom  the  world  is  a  stranger,  but  you  know  that 
spirit,  for  it  is  in  you  now,  and  it  will  continue  with 
you.*  You  shall  not  be  left  like  orphans ;  I  will  be 
with  you.  In  a  little  while  I  shall  be  on  earth  no 
more,  but  you  will  still  see  me,  because  I  shall  still 
live,  and  you  will  live  too ;  and  then  you  will  know 
as  you  have  not  known,  that  I  am  in  the  Father, 
*  See  Note  P. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  231 

and  you  in  me  and  I  in  you.  Only  do  as  I  have 
commanded  you,  and  then,  loving  me,  you  will  be 
loved  by  my  Father,  and  I  will  love  you,  and  mani- 
fest myself  to  you, — appear  to  you.'  Here  one  of 
his  disciples  inquired,  how  he  was  going  to  manifest 
himself  to  them,  and  not  to  others.  Jesus  answered : 
^  If  you  love  me,  you  will  observe  what  I  have  said, 
and  then  my  Father  will  love  you,  and  we  will  both 
come  and  dwell  with  you.  While  I  am  yet  among 
you,  I  tell  you  these  things ;  but  that  true  spirit  in 
your  own  hearts,  which  instructs  and  comforts  you, 
and  which  is  from  God,  and  which  has  been  strength- 
ened in  you  by  my  means,  that  will  enlighten  you, 
and  remind  you  hereafter  of  all  that  I  have  said, 
and  enable  you  to  understand  what  you  do  not  un- 
derstand now.  Peace  be  with  you !  but  I  do  not 
give  you  this  farewell  salutation  as  it  is  ordinarily 
given.  Do  not  be  distressed,  do  not  fear.  You 
hear  what  I  say  ;  I  am  going  to  my  Father ;  if  you 
love  me,  you  will  be  glad,  because  I  am  going  to  my 
Father,  who  is  greater  than  I,  and  will  protect  and 
bless  me  :  I  tell  you  beforehand  that  I  am  going,  so 
that  when  I  am  gone  you  may  continue  to  believe 
me.  I  shall  have  no  opportunity  of  talking  again 
with  you,  for  the  power  of  the  world  is  coming  to 
separate  us ;  but  that  it  may  be  manifest  that  I  love 


232  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

the  Father  and  obey  him,  come,  let  us  leave  this 
place.' 

Before  quitting  the  place,  they  sang  a  hymn,  and 
then  went  out  and  crossed  the  brook  Kedron  to  the 
Mount  of  Olives.  On  their  way  to  this  spot,  Jesus 
and  his  disciples  passed  by  or  through  a  vineyard, 
which,  as  we  may  suppose,  suggested  the  illustra- 
tions which  he  used  in  his  discourse  to  his  disciples. 
"I  am  the  true  vine,"  said  he,  "and  my  Father  is 
the  husbandman."  "I  am  the  vine,  and  ye  are 
the  branches."  And  then,  carrying  out  the  simili- 
tude, he  enjoined  it  upon  his  disciples  to  continue 
true  to  him,  and  then  they  would  have  life,  and 
produce  much  fruit,  and  glorify  the  Father.  Thus 
far  they  had  become  what  they  were  through  their 
strong  personal  attachment  to  Jesus.  It  was  their 
affection  for  him,  which  was  the  principle  and  life 
of  their  growth,  and  by  which  they  would  come  to 
be  so  inspired,  that  their  old  Jewish  ways  of  think- 
ing would  lose  their  power,  and  they  would  learn  to 
do  and  to  endure  like  their  master,  and  bring  forth 
fruit  like  him.  ^  Only  keep  my  commandments,' 
said  he,  '  and  you  will  continue  to  love  me,  just  as 
I,  by  keeping  my  Father's  commandments,  continue 
in  his  love.  And  my  special  commandment  is  that 
you  love  one  another  with  the  same  strength  of 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  233 

affection  which  I  have  borne  towards  you;  and 
greater  love  than  mine  cannot  be  cherished,  for  I 
am  going  to  lay  down  my  life  for  you.  Do  as  I 
require,  and  you  are  my  friends, — not  my  servants, 
but  my  friends.  As  such  I  have  always  regarded 
you ;  for  all  that  I  have  received  of  my  Father,  I 
have  given  you.  You  did  not  choose  me,  but  I 
chose  you,  and  I  have  appointed  you  to  go  forth 
and  exert  an  enduring  power,  produce  lasting  fruit. 
When  men  hate  and  persecute  you,  remember  that 
they  hated  me  first.  If  you  belonged  to  them, 
they  would  love  you ;  but  you  are  not  of  them.  I 
have  chosen  you  from  among  them,  and  therefore 
they  will  hate  you.  They  will  drive  you  from  their 
synagogues.  The  time  is  coming  when  they  who 
kill  you  will  think  that  they  are  serving  God  there- 
by. All  these  things  they  will  do  to  you,  because 
they  know  not  my  Father  nor  me.  I  tell  you  all 
these  things  beforehand,  so  that  when  they  take 
place,  you  may  recollect  that  I  told  you  of  them. 
I  did  not  mention  these  things  to  you  at  first,  be- 
cause I  was  with  you ;  but  now  I  am  going  to  Him 
that  sent  me,  and  when  I  tell  you  all  this,  you  are 
filled  with  sorrow.  Nevertheless,  I  assure  you,  it 
is  necessary,  for  your  sakes,  that  I  shcKdd  leave 
you.' 

20* 


234  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

So  long  as  lie  continued  with  them,  tliey  would 
persist  in  indulging  the  ignorant  Jewish  hopes  which 
stood  in  the  way  of  their  progress  towards  larger 
ways  of  thinking.  The  death  and  departure  of 
their  master,  though  it  shocked  them  in  the  pros- 
pect, would  yet  bring  nobler  thoughts,  and  expand 
their  minds  with  a  new  and  larger  measure  of  the 
spirit  of  Truth  ;  that  spirit  of  mind,  which,  he  said, 
would  be  their  comforter  in  his  stead.  With  what 
truth,  then,  did  he  assure  them  that  it  was  expe- 
dient for  them  that  he  should  go  away ;  that  if  he 
did  not  leave  them,  the  comforter  would  not  come 
to  them  !  That  spirit,  he  said,  which  was  already 
with  them  and  in  them,  would  come  with  increased 
light  and  power,  and  teach  them  all  that  they  could 
wish  to  know. 

Thus  it  is  always.  The  things,  the  persons,  that 
help  us  in  our  inner  growth,  can  give  us  only 
limited  help.  They  assist  us  for  awhile,  and  then 
impede  us.  The  time  comes  when  they  have  done 
for  us  all  that  they  can,  and  then  they  must  leave 
us,  or  we  leave  them.  Our  earthly  friends,  by 
teaching  us  to  love,  by  practising  us  in  the  divine 
art,  prepare  us  to  love  a  higher  than  any  earthly 
friend,  pS^rent  or  child.  But  if  they  did  not  leave 
us  and  go  away,  they  would  become  our  idols ;  we 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  235 

should  rest  in  them,  become  stunted  in  our  growth, 
and  never  know  the  richness  and  comfort  of  a 
higher  love. 

Had  not  Jesus  been  parted  from  his  friends,  they 
would  have  kept  brooding  on  the  bright  vision  of 
the  Messiah's  reign ;  and  that  spirit  of  Truth  which 
comes  from  Heaven,  would  have  been  excluded 
from  their  minds.  In  answer  to  all  his  consoling 
words,  his  disciples  expressed  their  entire  confidence 
in  him.  They  believed,  they  said,  that  he  had 
come  from  God.  '  Do  you  believe  in  me  ?'  said  he ; 
''  Behold !  the  hour  is  coming,  it  is  even  now  come, 
when  you  will  all  be  scattered,  and  I  shall  be  left 
alone;  and  yet,' he  added,  ^I  am  not  alone,  the 
Father  is  with  me.' 

Bidding  them  then  be  comforted,  although  they 
would  have  much  to  sufi'er,  he  raised  his  eyes  to 
Heaven  in  prayer  for  himself  and  them.  The  hour 
of  his  death  had  come ;  and,  appealing  from  earth 
to  Heaven,  he  naturally  rose  in  thought  far  above 
the  temporary  dishonor  which  the  world  around  him 
was  casting  on  him,  even  to  a  consciousness  of  that 
glory  which  he  had  with  God ;  an  uncreated  glory, 
a  glory  which  existed  in  the  Divine  mind  from  eter- 
nity, before  the  world  was.  He  then  prayed  with 
a  solemn  fervor  for  his  friends,  that  they  might  be 


236  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

made  holy  by  Truth ;  that  they  might  be  entirely 
one  "with  one  another,  with  him,  and  with  God; 
that  they  might  discern  his  glory,  which  was  not 
the  creation  of  a  day,  and  share  in  it,  and  be  with 
him  where  he  was. 

They  were  at  this  time,  I  suppose,  in  some  retired 
part  of  the  Mount  of  Olives.  He  was  momently 
expecting  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies. 
Having  been  thus  engaged  in  comforting  his  disci- 
ples, and  preparing  them  for  the  parting  that  was 
at  hand,  he  sought  a  moment's  retirement  for  him- 
self, and  turned  towards  a  garden,  to  which  he  had 
loved  often  to  resort,  and  where  he  had  often  gone 
to  walk  with  his  disciples. 

"When  I  read  that  the  garden  of  Gethsemane  was 
a  favourite  spot  of  his,  and  that  he  had  often  visited 
it,  and  then  consider  that  here  is  the  only  mention 
that  is  made  of  it,  I  am  struck  with  the  incomplete- 
ness of  the  records.  So  far  as  they  go,  they  are 
miracles  of  truthfulness ;  and  they  tell  us  enough 
to  enable  us  to  form  a  living  idea  of  Jesus  and  his 
teachings.  But,  nevertheless,  how  much  have  they 
left  untold !  It  is  natural  to  conclude  that  only 
the  most  striking  incidents  of  his  life,  only  his  most 
remarkable    sayings,    only    those   things,    in   fine, 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  237 

which  could  not  possibly  be  forgotten,  which  burnt 
themselves  into  the  minds  of  men,  beyond  the  pos- 
sibility of  erasure,  have  been  recorded.  And  when 
we  consider  the  intrinsic  character  of  the  events 
that  compose  the  history  of  Jesus,  we  perceive  that 
it  must  have. been  even  so.  Had  there  been  no 
implements  of  writing  whatever,  had  no  art  of 
printing  been  subsequently  invented,  had  there 
been  no  rocks  even,  upon  which  a  record  might 
have  been  rudely  engraved,  still  the  memory  of 
such  events  would  have  kept  sounding  on  from  age 
to  age. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   GARDEN  —  THE  HOUR  OF  DARKNESS  —  THE  AR- 
REST   THE  HIGH   PRIEST  —  PETER THE  TRIAL 

HEROD  —  PILATE  —  CRUCIFIXION  —  DEATH. 

The  garden  to  which  Jesus  went  was  connected, 
it  appears,  with  a  farm,  devoted  to  the  cultivation 
of  the  olive,  and  hearing  the  name  of  Gethsemane, 
from  an  olive  or  oil-press  established  there.  Only 
a  few  years  ago,  the  garden  was  planted  with  olive, 
almond,  and  fig-trees.  The  locality  is  identified,  at 
the  present  day,  by  eight  olive-trees  standing  there, 
which  are  so  large,  and  apparently  so  aged,  that 
they  are  supposed  to  have  existed  in  the  time  of 
Jesus.  Although  it  may  be  doubted  whether  they 
are  the  same  trees  under  which  he  walked,  since, 
according  to  Josephus,  the  Romans,  when  they 
destroyed  Jerusalem,  cut  down  all  the  trees  within 

(238) 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  239 

a  hundred  furlongs  of  the  city,  yet  the  present 
trees,  bearing  the  marks  of  great  age,  may  have 
sprung  from  the  ancient  roots.  The  olive  is  propa- 
gated thus,  and  is  very  long-lived. 

So  savagely  picturesque,  so  ghostly,  as  I  have 
been  told,  is  the  olive-tree,  in  the  forms  it  presents, 
that  the  imagination  of  the  modern  traveller  must 
be  as  deeply  stirred  in  visiting  Gethsemane,  as  by 
any  one  spot  in  all 

those  holy  fields, 
Over  whose  acres  walked  those  blessed  feet, 
Which,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  were  nailed, 
For  our  advantage,  on  the  bitter  cross. 

Those  trees,  I  imagine,  in  their  contorted  shapes 
might  seem  to  be  the  rugged  characters  in  which 
Nature  has  inscribed  on  the  spot  her  wild  record, 
in  enduring  memorial  of  the  untold  agony  of  which 
that  garden  was  the  scene. 

When  Jesus  reached  this  place,  he  bade  his  dis- 
ciples remain  near  the  entrance,  perhaps,  while, 
taking  with  him  the  three  to  whom  he  appears  to 
have  been  most  attached,  he  retired  to  a  secluded 
and,  perhaps,  favorite  part  of  the  garden. 

Having  put  himself  and  his  own  sorrows  by,  in 
comforting  his  weeping  followers,  now,  when  that 


240  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

office  liad  been  discharged  to  the  uttermost,  and  now 
too,  when  his  physical  exhaustion  must  have  been 
extreme,  there  came,  through  the  weakness  of  the 
flesh,  a  natural  revulsion ;  and  in  the  stillness  of  the 
night,  and  the  loneliness  of  the  spot,  a  sense  of  his 
own  solitary  situation,  and  of  the  horrors  that  were 
gathering  round  him,  came  over  him  with  an  over- 
whelming power.  Then  he  entered  into  that  baptism 
to  which  he  had  more  than  once  alluded,  and  the 
billows  went  over  his  head ;  and  it  seemed  to  him, 
as  he  told  his  three  friends,  as  if  he  should  die ;  so 
great  was  the  anguish  of  his  mind.  He  bade  them 
stay  where  they  were,  and  watch, — it  is  evident  he 
was  every  moment  expecting  the  emissaries  of  the 
priests,  and  did  not  wish  to  be  taken  by  surprise, — 
while  he  retired  a  short  distance  to  pray.  And  then 
he  threw  himself  prostrate  on  the  earth,  and  his  dis- 
ciples overheard  him  say  :  ^  0  my  Father  !  if  it  be 
possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me ;  nevertheless, 
not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done :'  but  they,  overcome 
by  excitement  and  fatigue,  soon  fell  asleep.  He 
returned  to  them,  and  found  them  sleeping,  and  said 
reproachfully  to  Peter,  who  had  always,  and 
especially  within  the  last  hour,  been  so  forward  in 
his  professions  of  attachment ;  '  "What !  could  you 
not  watch  with  me  one  hour  ?    Watch  and  pray,  lest 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  241 

you  fall  into  temptation !'  How  must  this  warning 
have  b^en  wrung  from  his  own  agonizing  experience 
at  the  moment !  "  The  spirit,"  he  added,  "is  will- 
ing, but  the  flesh  is  weak."  Was  this,  too,  the 
breathing  of  his  own  tried  and  struggling  soul,  or 
was  it  an  excuse  for  the  unseasonable  and  unwilling 
slumbers  of  his  disciples,  or  was  it  both  ?  Having 
awakened  his  disciples,  that  he  might  receive  notice 
through  them,  if  any  one  approached,  again  he 
retired  to  pour  out  his  soul  in  prayer  to  Heaven. 
Again  the  same  ejaculations  were  heard  to  bui'st 
from  his  lips ;  and  again  he  came  back  and  found 
them  asleep.  How  great  must  have  been  his  ex- 
haustion, when  they  were  so  weary !  Awakening 
them,  he  returned  the  third  time,  and  they  caught 
from  him  the  same  words ;  and  so  great  was  his 
agony  in  the  sense  of  his  dark  and  lonely  fate, 
that,  when  he  returned  to  his  disciples,  they  saw  the 
sweat  running  from  him  as  copiously  as  if  it  had 
been  his  life-blood.  The  gloom,  the  solitude,  the 
silence  of  the  hour,  and  the  suspense  of  the  mo- 
ment, always  far  sharper  than  the  acutest  physical 
pain,  all  combined  to  crush  him  to  the  earth. 

At  last  his  ear  caught  the  sound  of  coming  feet, 
or  he  may  have  dimly  descried  the  forms  of  those 
approaching.     He  had  not  struggled  and  prayed  in 
21 


242  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

vain ;  in  the  hour  of  his  extremity,  strength  came 
to  him  like  a  swift  angel  from  Heaven ;  and  when 
he  returned  for  the  last  time,  and  found  his  disciples 
again  slumbering,  ^  You  may  sleep  on  now,'  he  said, 
meaning  evidently  that  their  watching  was  now  of 
no  avail ;  ^  you  may  sleep  on  now,  and  take  your 
rest,  for  the  time  has  come,  and  I  am  delivered  into 
the  hands  of  evil  men ;  but  arise !  come !  he  that 
betrays  me  is  at  hand.'  And  upon  this,  a  large 
company,  variously  armed,  to  guard  against  a 
rescue,  approached.  Judas,  who  was  their  guide, 
ran  in  advance,  and  saluted  and  kissed  Jesus,  hav- 
ing agreed  with  those  who  came  with  him  to  desig- 
nate their  victim  in  this  way.  Jesus  received  him 
with  a  calmness,  and  even  kindness,  that  must  have 
gone  like  a  dagger  to  the  heart  of  the  traitor. 
*  Friend,  for  what  have  you  come  ?  Do  you  betray 
me  with  a  kiss  ?'  Judas,  having  thus  indicated 
Jesus  to  his  captors,  retreated,  —  vanished  in  the 
shadows  of  the  night,  but  with  the  lurid  glare  of 
his  own  guilt  about  to  break  upon  his  soul. 

Jesus  advanced  to  meet  those  who  came  to  seize 
him,  and  asked  whom  they  wanted.  Upon  their 
saying,  'Jesus  of  Nazareth,'  'I  am  he,'  he  replied: 
but  so  self-possessed,  so  commanding  was  his  ap- 
pearance,  that  those  in  front  of  the   band,  who 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  243 

perhaps  fully  expected  to  find  one  ready  to  fly  be- 
fore them,  were  so  impressed  by  this  unlooked-for 
fearlessness  and  a  certain  majesty  in  his  air,  and 
perhaps  panic-struck  also,  for  the  moment,  at  the 
sudden  thought  of  his  mysterious  power,  started 
back  so  precipitately  that  some  of  the  crowd  were 
borne  to  the  ground. 

They  were  thrown  into  such  confusion,  and 
paused  so  long  before  they  advanced  to  take  him, 
that  again  he  asked  whom  they  sought,  and  when 
they  again  answered,  '  Jesus  of  Nazareth,'  ^  I  have 
told  you,'  said  he,  '  that  I  am  he ;'  and  then  forget- 
ful of  himself,  and  seeking  to  secure  the  safety  of 
his  disciples,  he  added ;  '  If  then  you  seek  me,  let 
these  go  their  way.'  As  they  approached  to  lay 
hold  of  him,  his  disciples  were  disposed  to  resist 
with  force,  and  Peter  actually  drew  a  sword,  and 
wounded  a  servant  of  the  High-Priest ;  but  Jesus 
commanded  him  to  put  up  the  sword,  observing  that 
they  who  use  the  sword  will  perish  by  the  sword, 
and  intimating  that  he  surrendered  himself  volun- 
tarily. He  then  said  to  the  persons  who  were  bind- 
ing him  ;  '  Have  you  come  with  swords  and  bludgeons 
to  arrest  me  like  a  thief  ?  What  need  was  there  of 
proceeding  thus  secretly?  In  the  broad  light  of 
every  day  I  have  been  seated  publicly  teaching  in 


244  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

the  temple,  but  you  laid  no  hands  upon  me ;  but  this 
is  your  fit  season,  —  the  night  time.'  The  disciples, 
seeing  him  now  in  the  power  of  this  armed  band, 
all  forsook  him  and  fled :  and  he  was  led  away  to 
the  residence  of  the  High-Priest,  where  the  leading 
Pharisees  were  assembled,  anxiously  waiting  for  him 
to  be  brought  before  them. 

Peter  and  John  followed  him  to  the  High-Priest's 
palace ;  and  John  having  some  acquaintance  with 
the  family,  went  in,  and  by  leave  of  the  maid-ser- 
vant, who  waited  at  the  door,  introduced  Peter  also. 
This  woman,  of  course  in  her  master's  interest, 
recognized  Peter,  as  he  was  passing  in,  as  a  fol- 
lower of  Jesus,  and  said  to  him,  '  Are  you  not  one 
of  this  man's  followers  ?'  and  he  answered  that  he 
was  not. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  High-Priest,  taking  the 
lead  in  virtue  of  his  office,  began  to  question  Jesus, 
demanding  to  know  the  number  of  his  disciples, 
and  what  he  taught.  Jesus  replied :  '  What  I  have 
taught,  I  have  taught  before  all  the  world,  in  public 
places,  in  synagogues,  and  in  the  temple  where  the 
people  assemble.  I  have  said  nothing  in  private. 
Why  do  you  question  me  ?  Inquire  of  those  who 
have  heard  me.  They  know  what  I  have  said.' 
The  High-Priest,  being  thus  answered,  could  not 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  245 

but  appear  contemptible;  and  one  of  his  people 
standing  by,  fancying  that  he  had  been  spoken 
rudely  to,  because  he  was  silenced,  struck  Jesus  in 
the  face  with  the  palm  of  his  hand,  exclaiming,  *  Is 
this  the  way  you  speak  to  the  High-Priest  ?'  *  If 
I  have  said  anything  wrong,  show  where  the  wrong 
is,'  calmly  answered  Jesus;  ^but  if  I  have  said 
only  what  is  true,  why  do  you  strike  me  V  Various 
individuals  then  came  forward  to  testify  as  to 
things  that  they  had  heard  him  say ;  repeating  and 
garbling  fragments  of  his  teachings.  But  so  con- 
fused and  trifling  were  thes«  charges,  that  Jesus 
deigned  no  reply.  He  saw  very  clearly  that  his 
death  was  resolved  upon ;  and  even  when  the  High- 
Priest  asked  him  if  he  had  nothing  to  say,  his 
silence  answered.  Nothing.  Then  Caiaphas  adjured 
him,  by  the  living  God,  to  speak,  and  say  whether 
he  were  the  Christ.  He  replied  that  he  was,  and 
that  it  would  so  appear  in  the  most  convincing 
manner.  Although  secretly  gratified,  no  doubt,  at 
obtaining  from  him  such  a  declaration,  the  High- 
Priest  rent  his  clothes,  in  sign  of  horror,  and  ex- 
claimed against  such  blasphemy,  and  the  council 
all  declared  that  Jesus  ought  to  be  put  to  death. 

And   then   began  a   sickening   scene  of  brutal 
violence.     He  was  spit  upon,  and  struck  again  and 
21* 


.246  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

again,  and  made  the  sport  of  their  wanton  cruelty ; 
and  blows  and  ridicule  were  poured  upon  that 
sacred  head.  They  blindfolded  him,  and  then  kept 
striking  him,  bidding  him  exhibit  his  prophetic  gift, 
and  tell  who  it  was  who  struck  him.  In  referring 
to  these  details,  I  can  hardly  bear  to  depart  from 
the  phraseology  of  the  records,  to  the  full  signifi- 
cance of  which  we  are  rendered  insensible  by  cus- 
tom ;  the  effect  of  Avhich,  in  this  instance,  is  scarcely 
to  be  regretted,  although  we  so  often  have  reason 
to  lament  its  influence  in  veiling  from  us  the  vivid 
reality  of  the  history. 

While  these  things  were  going  on,  Peter  was 
standing  by  the  fire  which  had  been  kindled.  The 
courage  that  brought  him  to  the  place  had  vanished ; 
and  when  again  charged  with  being  a  follower  of 
Jesus,  terrified  at  what  he  witnessed,  and  at  what 
his  own  fate  might  be,  he  declared  that  he  did  not 
know  what  the  person  who  accused  him  thus  waa 
talking  about,  that  he  had  no  acquaintance  with 
Jesus.  The  third  time,  the  same  charge  was  brought 
against  him  with  increased  confidence.  His  speech, 
it  was  said,  betrayed  him  to  be  a  Galilean.  And 
then  he  denied  it,  with  oaths,  and  imprecations  on 
himself  in  case  he  did  not  speak  the  truth,  calling 
Heaven  to  witness.     That  familiar  voice,  pouring 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  247 

out  curses,  caught  the  ear  of  his  master,  who,  in- 
sensible to  the  savage  violence  of  which  he  was  the 
object,  turned  and  looked  at  Peter.  There  was  no 
surprise,  no  anger,  no  wounded  feeling,  in  that  look, 
but  a  divine  pity,  and  a  piercing,  monitory  signifi- 
cance, that  went  to  the  inmost  soul  of  the  false 
disciple ;  and  he  rushed  out,  and  burst  into  an 
agony  of  bitter,  bitter  weeping. 

All  this  took  place  at  night ;  a  fit  season.  Apart 
from  the  brutal  manner  in  which  he  was  treated,  let 
it  be  remembered  how  he  must  have  been  well  nigh 
worn  out  by  the  exhausting  life  he  had  been  pre- 
viously, and  within  a  few  days,  leading.  When  the 
morning  dawned,  the  priests  and  leading  men  caused 
him  to  be  led,  bound,  to  the  palace  of  the  Roman 
Procurator,  Pontius  Pilate,  whither  they  also  went 
in  a  body.  They  directed  him  to  be  carried  into 
the  prsetorium,  or  judgment-hall;  but  the  priests 
and  Pharisees,  though  they  were  thirsting  for  inno- 
cent blood,  were  so  very  religious,  that  they  would 
not  themselves  go  into  the  Gentile  court,  lest  they 
should  be  defiled  in  the  eye  of  the  ceremonial  law, 
by  coming  in  contact  with  Gentiles,  and  so  be  inca- 
pacitated to  observe  the  Feast.  But  a  number  of 
persons,  I  suppose,  went  in,  and  John,  probably^ 
among  them.    The  governor  came  out,  and  inquired 


248  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

of  the  priests  what  charge  they  brought  against 
Jesus.  ^If  he  were  not  a  criminal,'  said  they  sul- 
lenly, '  we  should  not  have  delivered  him  up  to  you ; 
he  leads  away  the  people,  and  pretends  that  he  is  a 
king ;  and  he  has  been  going  all  over  the  country, 
teaching,  beginning  in  Galilee.' 

As  soon  as  Pilate  heard  that  Jesus  was  a  Gali- 
lean, he  resolved  to  send  him  to  the  Jewish  prince, 
Herod,  who  chanced  to  be  in  Jerusalem  at  the 
time,  and  in  whose  jurisdiction  Galilee  was.  The 
Roman  governor,  who,  throughout,  sought  to  evade 
the  responsibility  of  his  office,  thinking  it  would  be 
a  fine  opportunity  to  renew  the  friendly  terms, 
which  had  been  on  some  account  interrupted,  be- 
tween him  and  Herod,  and  also  to  get  rid  of  the 
matter  altogether,  sent  Jesus  to  Herod,  who  had 
heard  of  him,  and  was  curious  to  see  him,  hoping 
to  see  him  work  a  miracle.  The  priests  and  Phari- 
sees accompanied  Jesus  to  the  residence  of  Herod, 
and  accused  him,  in  the  presence  of  that  prince, 
with  great  vehemence ;  to  all  which,  Jesus  probably 
answered  nothing.  His  appearance  was  so  wholly 
devoid  of  everything  like  vulgar  force,  that  Herod 
could  not  but  ridicule  the  idea  of  such  a  person's 
being  dangerous.  He  allowed  his  guards  to  make 
him  the  object  of  their  rude  jests ;  but  as  there  was 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  249 

nothing  in  him  to  provoke  their  cruel  treatment, 
Herod  soon  tired  of  it,  and  sent  him  back  to  Pilate. 
No  doubt,  Pilate's  heart  sank  within  him  with  vexa- 
tion, when  he  saw  Jesus  returned  upon  his  hands ; 
but  a  better  understanding  was  established  with 
Herod,  and  that  was  some  consolation. 

Pilate  then,  as  before,  tried  to  induce  the  Priests 
to  settle  the  matter  themselves ;  but  they  said  that, 
though  Jesus  ought  to  die,  they  had  no  power  to 
condemn  him  to  death. 

While  thus  engaged,  the  governor  received  a 
message  from  his  wife,  charging  him  not  to  suffer 
Jesus  to  be  harmed,  for  that  he  was  an  innocent 
man,  and  she  had  had  a  dream  about  him,  which 
greatly  disturbed  her.  It  is  altogether  probable 
that  she  had  previously  heard  much  of  Jesus,  of  his 
sayings  and  his  works ;  and  that  her  imagination 
had  been  so  much  excited,  as  well  it  might  be,  that 
she  had  dreamed  about  him. 

Pilate  was  by  no  means  devoid  of  humanity,  but 
he  was  evidently  a  weak  man.  He  would  gladly 
have  saved  Jesus ;  but  though  he  saw  the  malignity 
of  the  priests,  and  the  absurdity  of  the  charges 
which  they  brought  against  him,  he  had  not 
courage,  knowing  their  influence  with  the  people,  to 
exercise  his  rightful  authority.     As  he  had  failed 


250  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

in  attempting  to  throw  his  responsibility  on  Herod 
and  the  priests,  he  began  to  question  Jesus,  hoping 
to  get  something  from  him  that  would  help  him  to 
a  decision.  ^  Are  you  a  king?'  he  asked.  '  Do  you 
ask  me  this  question,'  said  Jesus  in  return,  *  be- 
cause you  yourself  believe  that  I  have  assumed  that 
character,  or,  because  others  have  told  you  that  I 
pretend  to  be  a  king  ?'  It  is  clear  from  these  words 
that  Jesus  understood  Pilate,  saw  that  he  was  a 
tool,  and  had  no  mind  of  his  own.  And  the  answer 
of  Pilate  is  a  virtual  confession  of  his  incapacity  to 
decide  for  himself,  which  he  hides  from  his  own 
eyes  under  cover  of  his  Roman  pride :  '  I  know 
nothing  of  the  matter,'  he  says  in  eifect,  ^  I  am  no 
Jew ;  your  own  people  and  the  priests  have  delivered 
you  up  to  me  ;  What  have  you  done  V  Jesus  an- 
swered, '  My  kingdom  is  not  of  a  worldly  nature ; 
if  it  were,  I  should  have  had  adherents  who  would 
have  fought  for  me,  and  prevented  my  falling  into 
the  hands  of  the  priests  :  my  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
kind.'  '  Then  you  are  a  king  ?'  said  Pilate.  '  Yes,' 
answered  Jesus,  '  I  am  a  king ;  for  this  end  was  I 
born,  and  for  this  cause  did  I  come  into  the  world, 
to  testify  to  the  Truth ;  and  every  true  man  is  my 
subject, —  hearkens  to  my  voice.'  '  What  is  Truth  V 
asked  the  governor ;  but,  expecting  from  a  poor  Jew 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  251 

no  satisfactory  solution  of  a  question  which  had  so 
often  been  asked  of  great  philosophers,  but  never 
answered,  he  went  out  again  to  the  priests,  without 
waiting  for  an  answer,  and  told  them  that  he  could 
find  no  fault  in  him. 

He  next  proposed  that,  as  it  w^as  the  custom  for 
some  one  prisoner,  as  an  act  of  grace,  to  be  released 
at  the  time  of  the  Passover,  he  should  release 
this  king,  as  thej  styled  him.  But  the  priests  had 
instructed  their  partisans  to  call  for  the  release  of 
Barabbas,  a  notorious  robber  and  rioter,  then  in 
confinement  for  sedition  and  murder.  '  What  then,' 
asked  the  governor,  '  shall  I  do  with  Jesus  who  is 
called  the  Christ?'  *Let  him  be  crucified!'  they 
answered.  'But  what  evil  has  he  done?'  To  the 
expostulations  of  Pilate,  however,  no  reply  was 
returned  but  the  savage  cry,  '  Let  him  be  crucified  !' 

When  the  governor  saw  that  he  could  not  turn 
them  from  their  cruel  purpose,  and  the  clamor 
that  was  raised  grew  so  loud  that  he  could  not 
make  himself  heard,  he  took  water,  which  we  may 
suppose  was  standing  near  in  some  vessel,  and 
dipping  his  hands  into  it,  shook  it  ofi",  to  intimate  by 
this  expressive  act,  to  the  whole  crowd,  and  to  those 
at  a  distance  especially,  what  he  announced  at  the 
same  time  in  words ;   calling  all  to  witness  that  he 


252  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

would  not  stain  himself  with  innocent  blood ;  that 
the  responsibility  must  lie  with  them.  Expressive 
as  this  act  was,  it  was  a  very  weak  evasion,  as  if, 
suffering  Jesus  to  be  put  to  death  when  it  rested 
solely  with  him,  he  could,  nevertheless,  clear  himself 
of  his  blood  as  easily  as  he  dashed  the  water  from 
his  hands.  *  His  blood  be  upon  us  and  our  children ! 
We  will  take  the  responsibility  !'  yelled  the  priests 
and  the  mob.  In  the  ruins  of  Jerusalem,  soaked 
in  blood,  a  few  years  after,  how  terribly  was  this 
cry  answered ! 

Weak  as  he  was,  Pilate  could  not  satisfy  himself 
thus.  He  next  sought  to  appease  the  priests,  by 
subjecting  Jesus  to  the  torture  of  the  scourge. 
The  Roman  scourge  was  a  whip  with  a  number  of 
thongs,  pointed  with  sharp  bits  of  metal,  and  is  by 
ancient  authors  termed  horrible,  from  the  fearful 
blows  which  it  inflicted.  By  thus  far  yielding  to 
the  appetite  for  blood,  Pilate  hoped  to  allay  it ;  but 
he  only  inflamed  it.  So  far  from  gaining  anything 
by  this  act  of  cruelty,  he  only  betrayed  his  weak- 
ness, and  stimulated  the  efforts  of  the  priests.  After 
causing  Jesus  to  be  scourged,  and  giving  him  up  to 
the  brutal  sport  of  his  soldiers,  who  put  on  him  an 
old  purple  robe,  and  a  crown  of  thorns  or  weeds,  in 
derision  of  his  royal  pretensions,  saluting  him  as 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 


253 


a  king,  yrhile  they  treated  him  as  a  poor,  worthless 
creature,  Pilate  had  him  brought  out,  arrayed  in 
the  purple  robe  and  mock  crown,  and  presented  to 
the  view  of  the  mob.  Calling  to  them  to  look  at  the 
man,  while  he  affirmed  that  he  found  no  fault  in 
him,  he  trusted  either  that  their  hearts  would  be 
softened  at  the  sight,  or  that  they  would  be  shamed 
out  of  the  folly  of  regarding  such  a  person  as  dan- 
gerous.* 

At  sight  of  him,  the  chief  priests  and  their  re- 
tainers, like  wild  beasts,  ravenous  in  the  presence  of 
their  prey,  began  to  shout,  '  Crucify  him !  crucify 
him  !'  Pilate  said,  '  Take  him  yourselves  and  cru- 
cify him,  for  I  find  no  fault  in  him.'  'We  have  a 
law,'  said  they;  'and  by  that  he  ought  to  die,  be- 
cause he  has  pretended  to  be  the  Son  of  God.' 

Although  the  governor  was  of  that  careless 
character,  that  he  could  ask  what  Truth  is,  without 
waiting  for  an  answer,  yet  he  might  well  have  been 
liable  to  superstitious  fears,  nevertheless.  When 
he  heard  that  Jesus  had  claimed  to  be  the  Son  of 
God,  his  alarm  increased.  When  two  such  persons 
as  Jesus  and  Pilate  were  brought  together,  it  must 
needs  be,  notwithstanding  the  wide  diflference  in 
their  external  circumstances,  although  Jesus  stood 
there  as  a  prisoner,  and  Pilate  as  a  judge,  that  the 
*  See  Note  Q. 

22 


254  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

superiority  of  the  former  would  niake  itself  felt  at 
once,  and  almost  unconsciously,  by  the  latter.  The 
•weak  mind  of  Pilate  must  have  been  completely 
overawed,  from  the  very  first,  by  the  calm  bearing 
of  Jesus,  by  the  silence  and  serenity  which  he  pre- 
served amidst  the  horrid  din  of  a  mob  clamoring 
for  his  life.  And  although  the  governor  had  little 
reason  to  regard  anything  the  priests  might  say, 
yet  the  whole  appearance  of  the  man  arraigned 
before  him,  from  its  very  simplicity,  may  well  be 
imagined  to  have  been  invested,  in  the  anxious  and 
perplexed  eyes  of  Pilate,  with  an  air  of  alarming 
mystery,  and  to  have  given  the  warrant  of  truth 
to  the  idea  of  his  being  some  god  in  disguise. 

Jesus  was  again  led  back  to  the  judgment-hall, 
and  Pilate  also  went  in,  and  began  again  to  question 
him.  '  Whence  are  you  ?'  he  inquired  ;  or,  in  other 
words,  *Who  are  you?'  Jesus  made  no  reply.  Of 
what  avail  was  it  to  speak,  when  he  saw  that  Pilate 
had  no  strength  to  protect  him.  ^  Do  you  refuse 
to  speak  to  me  ?'  asked  the  governor ;  '  do  you  not 
know  that  I  have  power  to  crucify  you,  and  have 
power  to  release  you  ?'  That  was  more  than  Pilate 
knew,  himself.  His  mind  must  have  misgiven  him, 
as  to  the  reality  of  his  authority,  or  he  would 
hardly  have  paraded  it  thus.     This  sounds  like  a 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  255 

cowardlj  man.  *  You  could  have  no  power  to 
harm  me,'  said  Jesus,  'unless  it  were  given  you 
from  above.  The  chief  guilt  of  this  transaction 
lies  with  those  who  have  delivered  me  into  your 
hands.'  Without  excusing  Pilate,  he  simply  denied 
him  the  power  to  which  he  pretended.  True  and 
just  was  the  man  of  Nazareth,  even  in  this  fearful 
crisis. 

The  governor  now  manifested  an  increased  desire 
to  release  Jesus,  but  the  priests  began  to  threaten. 
The  weakness  which  he  had  shown,  their  sight, 
sharpened  by  a  resolute  purpose,  could  not  fail 
to  detect.  They  were  not  likely  to  be  insensible 
to  the  advantage  which  he  had  given  them  by  his 
wavering  course,  and  by  the  concession  he  had 
already  made  to  their  demands,  in  having  ordered 
Jesus,  whom  he  had  declared  innocent,  to  be 
scourged.  'If  you  let  this  man  go,'  cried  they, 
*you  are  not  Caesar's  friend:  whosoever  assumes 
to  be  a  king,  speaks  against  Caesar.'  At  this  allu- 
sion to  the  reigning  Caesar,  Tiberius,  one  of  the 
most  suspicious  tyrants  that  ever  held  the  Roman 
sceptre,  the  Procurator  might  well  tremble,  especially 
if  he  did  not  feel  himself  secure  of  the  imperial 
favor ;  and  that  he  could  hardly  have  been  devoid 
of  anxiety  on  this  score,  we  may  infer  from  the 


256  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

notoriously  rapacious  manner  in  which  he  was 
administering  his  procuratorship,  and  from  the  fate 
that  finally  overtook  him :  banishment  on  the  charge 
of  treason. 

Upon  hearing  this  mention  of  his  imperial  master, 
Pilate  again  brought  Jesus  forth,  and  took  his  place 
on  the  judgment-seat  which  was  erected  outside  the 
judgment-hall,  upon  a  tessellated  pavement  which 
gave  its  name  to  the  spot.  Floors  of  variously 
colored  stones  were  a  mark  of  wealth  and  rank 
among  the  Romans,  and  the  fashion  had  spread  into 
the  provinces.  Julius  Caesar,  it  is  stated  by  an 
ancient  author,  was  accustomed  to  have,  carried 
about  with  him,  a  quantity  of  differently  colored 
pieces  of  marble,  so  that  wherever  he  pitched  his 
camp,  a  pavement  of  this  kind  might  be  laid. 

But  even  after  he  had  taken  his  place  in  the  judg- 
ment-seat, and  thus  signified  that  he  was  about  to 
yield  to  the  barbarous  demands  of  the  priests, 
Pilate  still  hesitated.  '  Look  at  your  king,'  said  he, 
evidently  hoping  to  taunt  them  out  of  their  ab- 
surdity in  raging  so  furiously  against  one  so  weak 
and  unoffending  as  Jesus  appeared  to  be.  The 
only  answer  that  was  returned  was,  'Away  with 
him  !  Away  with  him  !  Crucify  him  !'  '  Shall  I 
crucify  your  king?'  asked  Pilate.     'We  have  no 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  257 

king  but  Caesar !'  said  the  priests,  making  a  pre- 
tence of  loyalty.  At  the  sound  of  that  dread 
name,  Pilate's  feeble  resistance  ceased  altogether, 
and  he  doomed  Jesus  to  suffer  death  by  crucifixion ; 
a  mode  of  death  then  accounted  so  ignominious, 
and  so  excruciating,  that  an  ancient  writer  says  that 
not  only  should  the  cross  be  kept  from  the  body 
of  a  Roman  citizen,  but  the  very  name  of  it 
should  not  approach  the  thoughts,  the  eyes,  or  the 
ears  of  a  Roman. 

The  construction  of  the  cross  is  familiar  to  us 
all.  As  far  as  can  be  gathered  from  ancient 
writings,  it  was  not  so  high  as  it  is  usually  repre- 
sented. The  wretched  victims  of  this  barbarous 
death  were  nailed  to  the  cross  by  the  hands ;  the 
feet,  which  were  not  nailed,  but  bound  to  the  cross 
with  cords,  were  not  more  than  three  feet  from  the 
ground.  About  the  middle  of  the  upright  post  or 
stake,  a  piece  of  wood  was  attached,  and  was  de- 
signed to  support  the  body  of  the  sufferer,  who  was 
placed  astride  upon  this  centre-piece  or  seat.  This 
support  was  provided,  not  to  alleviate  suffering,  but 
merely  to  uphold  the  body;  as  those  upon  whom 
this  terrible  torture  was  inflicted  were  sometimes 
left  to  writhe  in  agony  for  days,  until,  exhausted  at 
last  by  thirst  and  pain,  they  expired,  and  then  their 
22* 


258  HISTORY    OF    JESTJS. 

bodies  wasted  away  in  the  sun  and  the  rain,  or 
were  devoured  by  wild  beasts  and  birds  of  prey. 
To  this  bitter  death,  Pilate  sentenced  Jesus. 

Then  was  Jesus  again  given  up  to  the  soldiers, 
Avhose  barbarian  natures,  long  fed  by  bloody  sports 
and  gladiatorial  shows,  found  pleasure  in  torturing 
a  poor,  defenceless,  fellow-man.  Again  was  every 
indignity  heaped  upon  him ;  and,  taking  the  idea 
from  the  governor,  in  ridicule  of  his  kingly  claims, 
they  put  a  reed  in  his  right  hand,  to  represent  a 
sceptre,  and  knelt  down  before  him,  and  pretended 
to  salute  him  as  a  king,  striking  him  all  the  while. 
And  he  silently  bore  it  all,  like  a  lamb  in  the  bloody 
house  of  slaughter,  and  forgave  them  in  his  heart, 
knowing  how  ignorant  they  were  of  what  they  were 
about.  At  last  they  grew  tired,  and  stripped  off 
his  mock  regalities,  and  put  his  own  clothes  on  him, 
and  led  him  away  to  execution. 

According  to  custom,  the  cross  to  which  he  was 
to  be  nailed  was  laid  upon  his  shoulders,  and  he 
was  required  to  carry  it.  He  bore  it,  half  faintinr, 
through  the  streets  of  the  city,  towards  the  placv 
of  execution,  outside  the  walls,  and  was  followed  by 
a  crowd ;  and  there  were  many  women  in  the  crowd, 
who  wept  to  see  his  sufferings ;  and,  as  they  pressed 
near  to  him,  with  looks  of  the  deepest  commisera- 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  259 

tion,  and  with  streaming  eyes,  '  Daughters  of  Jeru- 
salem,' said  he;  S-reep  not  for  me,  weep  for  your- 
selves and  your  children.  For  behold,  the  days 
are  coming,  when  it  will  be  said.  Blessed  are  they 
that  never  bare,  and  the  breasts  that  never  gave 
nourishment.  And  then,  too,  the  people  will  invoke 
the  hills  and  mountains  to  fall  and  cover  them  from 
the  calamities  of  that  day.  If  the  innocent  suffer 
as  I  do,  what  will  be  done  to  this  guilty  nation  ! 
If  such  things  are  done  to  the  green  tree,  what  will 
befal  the  dry  V 

When  the  dark  procession  had  got  beyond  the 
city  walls,  his  strength  gave  out ;  and  so  evident 
was  it  that  he  was  not  equal  to  the  cruel  burthen 
of  the  cross,  that  the  soldiers  who  had  him  in 
charge,  fearing,  perhaps,  that  he  might  die  before 
he  reached  the  place  of  execution,  and  so  disappoint 
them  of  their  savage  amusement,  laid  hold  of  a 
stranger  coming  from  the  country,  and  compelled 
him  to  go  behind  Jesus  and  carry  the  cross.  Blessed 
privilege  !  who  would  not  have  leaped  to  give  him 
even  that  poor  relief  ? 

The  name  of  this  stranger,  Simon,  a  Cyrenian, 
on  whom  the  indignity,  which  the  soldiers  thought 
to  put  on  him,  has  conferred  immortal  honor,  is 
mentioned  in  two  of  the  records ;  and  in  one  of  the 


260  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

two,  it  is  said  that  lie  was  the  father  of  Alexander 
and  Rufus.  It  would  seem,  then,  that  these  two 
individuals  were  known  among  the  early  disciples. 
And  in  the  book  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  we 
find  Alexander  mentioned  as  a  companion  of  Paul 
at  Ephesus ;  and  among  the  friends  at  Rome,  to 
whom  Paul  sends  salutations  at  the  close  of  his 
epistle  to  the  disciples  in  that  city,  the  name  of 
Rufus  occurs.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the 
part  which  Simon,  from  Cyrene,  was  unexpectedly 
required  to  take  on  that  occasion,  w^as  the  means 
whereby  his  sons,  and,  I  suppose,  he  himself  also, 
became  disciples  of  Jesus. 

The  spot  appointed  for  the  crucifixion,  on  a  hill 
called  Calvary,  was  only  a  short  distance  from 
Jerusalem.  It  received  its  name,  Golgotha,  a  skull, 
from  the  fact  that  the  bodies  of  those  who  had 
been  executed  were  buried  there.  To  the  Jews, 
who  considered  themselves  defiled  by  contact  with 
any  dead  body,  this  spot  must  have  been  pecu- 
liarly hateful.  When  it  was  reached,  as  Jesus 
appeared  greatly  exhausted,  there  was  ofi"ered  him 
vinegar,  or  some  medicated  mixture ;  such  as  was 
given,  in  accordance  with  a  custom,  which  had  some 
touch  of  humanity  in  it,  to  those  who  were  about 
to  be  crucified,  in  order  to  enable  them  the  better 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  261 

to  endure  their  sufferings.  But  though  probably 
already  tortured  with  thirst,  he  refused  to  drink  it, 
or  to  owe  any  strength  to  such  help. 

And  then  they  nailed  his  hands  and  fastened  his 
feet  to  the  cross ;  and  as  his  blood  trickled  down, 
and  his  limbs  quivered  under  the  torture,  no  cry  of 
pain  broke  from  his  parched  lips;  but,  ^Father, 
forgive  them,'  he  exclaimed,  Uhey  do  not  know 
what  they  are  doing  !'  He  knew  that  those  men, 
brutal  as  they  were,  had  they  kno^n  whom  and  what 
manner  of  person  they  were  treating  with  such 
barbarity,  would  have  kissed  the  hands  which  they 
were  lacerating,  and  prostrated  themselves  at  his 
feet,  and  bathed  them  with  their  tears.  Knowing 
this,  he  would  allow  no  sufferings  of  his  own,  how- 
ever severe,  to  blind  him  to  this  extenuation  of  their 
cruelty.  From  amidst  the  horrors  of  the  cross  the 
ineffable  mercy  lightens ! 

Pilate,  smarting  in  his  Aveak  soul,  under  a  sense 
of  his  own  humiliation,  in  being  made  a  tool  of,  was 
determined  to  be  revenged  upon  the  priests :  it  was 
a  small  revenge  that  he  took,  but  it  no  doubt  was 
some  gratification  to  a  weak  man  like  Pilate.  He 
caused  to  be  attached  to  the  cross,  over  the  head  of 
Jesus,  a  writing  designating  him  as  the  king  of  the 
Jews ;  and  in  order  to  render  the  taunt  as  irritating 


262  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

as  possible,  Pilate  caused  the  writing  to  be  in  Greek, 
Hebrew,  and  Latin,  that  Greeks  and  Romans,  as 
well  as  Jews,  might  read  it.  The  priests  tried  to 
induce  him  to  alter  this  superscription,  but  he  re- 
fused ;  compensating  himself  for  the  want  of  power 
in  the  more  important  matter,  by  making  them  feel 
it  in  this  small  particular. 

With  Jesus,  two  others  were  crucified,  thieves, 
who  had  probably  been  reserved  for  execution  until 
the  feast,  when  large  numbers  of  people  were 
collected  at  Jerusalem. 

And  a  crowd  of  people  stood  and  looked  on ;  and 
some  of  the  priests  came,  with  teachers  of  the  law, 
and  the  leading  men  of  the  nation,  to  glut  their 
vengeance  and  hate  with  the  sight  of  his  agonies. 
No  drop  of  pity  fell  from  their  hearts  of  stone; 
but  they  tossed  their  heads  in  triumph,  and  said : 
*  He  saved  others :  if  he  is  the  great  king,  let  him 
come  down  from  the  cross ;  we  will  believe  in  him 
then :  he  pretended  to  put  his  trust  in  God ;  let  God 
deliver  him  now,  if  God  befriends  him :  he  called 
himself  the  Son  of  God  !'  And  other  voices  were 
heard  calling  out  to  him  from  the  crowd:  'You, 
who  said  you  could  destroy  the  temple  and  rebuild 
it  again  in  three  days,  save  yourself,  and  come 
down  from  the  cross  I ' 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  263 

And  even  one  of  those  wlio  were  crucified  with 
him,  joined  in  railing  at  him ;  but  the  other  re- 
proved his  companion,  confessing  his  own  guiltiness, 
and  asserting  the  innocence  of  Jesus.  However  he 
may  have  offended,  there  was  evidently  a  soul  of 
pure  goodness  in  this  man,  that  wa-s  touched  by  the 
appearance  of  Jesus,  and  that  needed  only  to  look 
at  him,  to  be  satisfied  that  he  was  innocent.  Far, 
very  far  from  being  hardened  in  guilt,  was  this  man. 
He  showed  a  sensibility  which  Jesus  was  sure  to 
appreciate.  He  called  to  Jesus  and  said  :  "  Master, 
remember  me  when  thou  comest  into  thy  kingdom." 
"Verily  I  say  unto  you,"  said  Jesus,  "  to-day  thou 
wilt  be  with  me  in  Paradise  !"  Already  by  his  hum- 
ble, penitent,  and  reverent  heart  he  was  with  Jesus, 
not  in  suffering  only,  but  also  in  spirit.  Already 
was  he  entering  Paradise,  although  by  a  gate  of 
fii'e. 

At  a  little  distance  from  the  cross,  amidst  the 
crowd,  the  mother  of  Jesus  was  standing,  supported 
by  his  dearest  friend,  John.  What  a  scene  was 
that  for  a  mother  to  witness !  What  agony  was 
her's !  Her  dying  son  caught  sight  of  her ;  and 
though  his  flesh  was  writhing  with  the  torture  of 
his  position,  and  his  tongue  and  lips  were  burning 
with  the  death-thirst,  he  gasped  out  to  her  in  broken 


264  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

words,  *  Woman!  look  there!  thy  son  !'  What  a 
world  of  love  was  there !  It  was  as  if  he  had 
said,  '  Grieve  not  for  me.  Let  John  be  your  son 
now.  Give  him  your  mother's  heart.'  And  he 
called  to  John  also  :  '  See  !  your  mother  !  Take  my 
place,  and  cherish  her  as  your  mother  !'  Though 
his  words  were  disjointed  and  brief,  yet  he  was 
understood ;  and  thenceforth  John  regarded  Mary 
as  his  mother. 

After  this,  the  sufferings  of  Jesus  became  so  ex- 
cruciating, that,  in  his  agony,  a  cry  of  desperation 
burst  from  his  lips ;  but  it  took  form,  in  his  devout 
spirit,  from  the  language  of  one  of  the  pathetic 
songs  of  David :  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou 
forsaken  me  !"  Speaking  in  his  own  language,  he 
addressed  God  by  that  name  which,  in  the  native 
dialect  of  Jesus,  is  precisely  the  same  name  of  God 
which  the  Mahometan  uses  at  this  day,  —  "Allah! 
Allah !" 

Some  of  the  bystanders,  touched  with  pity  at  his 
agonies,  were  about  to  offer  him  the  mixture  of 
vinegar,  or  sour  wine,  which  was  at  hand;  but 
others  interfered,  and,  wilfully  misunderstanding 
the  words  he  had  just  uttered,  said  in  derision,  '  He 
is  calling  for  Elias ;  let  us  wait  and  see  whether 
Elias  will  come  to  his  assistance.'     After  an  inter- 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  265 

val,  burning  with  thirst,  he  exclaimed,  *  I  thirst  !* 
and  then  they  dipped  a  sponge  in  the  mixture,  and 
fastening  it  on  the  end  of  a  stick,  raised  it  to  his 
lips ;  but  he  desired  no  such  stupefying  aid,  and, 
agonized  as  he  was,  he  refused  to  take  it. 

At  length,  as  death  drew  on,  in  triumphant  trust 
in  God,  gathering  up  his  utmost  strength,  he  cried 
aloud,  *  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my 
spirit.'  And  as  the  benign  lethargy  of  death  stole 
over  him,  and  his  sense  of  suffering  was  dulled,  he 
exclaimed,  *  It  is  over !'  and  his  head  fell  upon  his 
breast,  and  he  expired.  And  that  angel  spirit  sank 
into  the  arms  of  the  Everlasting  Father,  and  was 
at  peace. 


23 


CHAPTER  X. 

JESUS  DESTROYED  BY  A  FACTION  —  STARTLING  CIR- 
CUMSTANCES ATTENDING  HIS  DEATH APPARI- 
TIONS  THE  BODY  TAKEN  DOWN  FROM  THE  CROSS 

THE    BURIAL THE    GUARD DISCIPLES    DIS- 
CONSOLATE   RESURRECTION THE    WOMEN    AT 

THE   TOMB  —  REAPPEARANCE    TO    MARY  —  TESTI- 
MONY  IRRESISTIBLE  —  CONCLUSION. 

It  may  seem,  at  first  sight,  difficult  to  under- 
stand, when  Jesus  was  in  such  high  favor  with  the 
mass  of  the  people,  that  the  priests  and  Pharisees, 
powerful  as  they  were,  dared  not  offer  him  any 
violence  in  public,  how  it  was  that,  when  they  had 
once  by  treachery  secured  his  person,  they  suc- 
ceeded in  executing  their  bloody  purpose  without 
encountering  the  smallest  resistance.  It  is  true, 
the  populace  are  proverbially  inconstant,  ready  to 
tear  in  pieces,  on  the  morrow,  those  whom  to-day 

(266) 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  267 

they  welcome  with  shouts  of  admiration.  But  it  is 
not  in  this  way  altogether,  that  the  success  of  the 
enemies  of  Jesus  is  to  be  accounted  for. 

It  is  plain  that  he  fell  a  victim  to  a  faction 
headed  by  men  in  power,  by  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities  of  the  nation,  whom  he  had  mortally 
offended  by  his  fearless  publication  of  the  Truth. 
The  majority  of  those  who  favored  him  were  persons 
from  the  country,  who  considered  themselves  stran- 
gers in  Jerusalem,  and  were,  moreover,  accustomed 
to  defer  to  the  priesthood.  We  all  know,  too,  how 
a  few  bold,  bad  men,  may  overawe  a  multitude,  and 
how  the  lowest  of  the  people,  those  who  delight  in 
riot  and  bloodshed,  are  always  ready  to  make  com- 
mon cause  with  any  who  offer  them  opportunity  to 
glut  their  savage  passions.  The  priests  well  knew 
that,  if  they  could  once  possess  themselves  of  the 
person  of  Jesus,  and  present  him  to  the  people  in 
circumstances  of  disgrace  and  helplessness,  as  a 
criminal,  the  incongruity  of  such  a  situation  with 
the  magnificent  idea  of  the  Messiah,  would  be 
deeply  felt,  and  the  hopes  which  he  had  created 
would  be  withered  at  once.  The  generality  of 
people  are  ever  willing  to  be  led. 

After  all,  there  were,  no  doubt,  hundreds,  who 
looked  on  and  saw  Jesus  put  to  death,  who  in  their 


268  •     HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

hearts  abhorred  the  act,  and  would  gladly  have 
saved  him,  but  they  knew  not  what  to  do.  They 
were  very  sorry,  but  they  did  not  see  how  it  could 
be  helped.  His  enemies,  though  a  small  minority, 
were  banded  together  and  resolute ;  his  friends, 
though  many,  were  undecided ;  and  there  were  nume- 
rous varieties  and  shades  of  feeling  among  them ; 
and  no  one  was  sure  of  another.  In  corroboration 
of  these  remarks,  we  read  that  the  people  who  went 
out  to  witness  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus,  so  soon  as  it 
was  over,  and  he  had  breathed  his  last,  returned  to 
the  city,  with  expressions  of  great  grief  at  the 
event,  smiting  their  breasts. 

The  last  moments  of  Jesus  were  accompanied 
with  many  startling  circumstances.  For  three 
hours  the  sky  was  so  thickly  overcast,  that  to  his 
friends,  who  saw  all  things  through  the  awful  gloom 
of  such  a  dread  catastrophe,  the  darkness  may  well 
have  seemed  portentous.  And  there  was  the  shock 
of  an  earthquake ;  whether  the  earth  shook  all 
around,  in  sympathy  at  the  departure  of  so  mighty 
and  god-like  a  spirit,  may  be  questioned,  but  it 
cannot  be  confidently  denied,  seeing  that  all  things 
are  intimately  related  and  bound  together  to  form 
the  great  whole,  and  the  slightest  movement  is  pro- 
pagated throughout  the  universe.    Be  this,  however, 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  269 

as  it  may,  the  earthquake  was  so  violent,  that  the 
stones  which  closed  the  mouths  of  the  tombs  were, 
in  some  instances,  shaken  from  their  places,  and  the 
bodies  of  the  dead  were  thus  exposed  to  the  startled 
view  of  the  alarmed  passers-by ;  and  individuals, 
excited  and  terrified  by  all  that  they  had  witnessed, 
had  visions  of  ghosts.  The  dead  appeared  to  many 
in  fearful  dreams ;  or  simple,  natural  appearances 
became  to  minds  affected  with  superstitious  alarms, 
and  to  eyes  dilated  with  wonder  and  fear,  invested 
with  a  supernatural  character.  And,  in  addition  to 
rumors  of  this  kind,  it  was  whispered  with  white 
lips,  that  the  veil  in  the  Temple,  which  hung  before 
the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  was  probably  worn  by  age, 
was  discovered  to  be  torn,  which,  however  it  may 
have  happened,  could  not  fail  to  be  considered  as  a 
most  ominous  coincidence,  although  at  any  other 
time  it  would  hardly  have  been  noticed. 

These  circumstances,  attendant  on  the  death  of 
Jesus,  and  generated  or  magnified  by  the  agitation 
of  the  public  mind,  show  us  how  great  that  agitation 
was,  and  undesignedly  bear  convincing  witness  to 
his  extraordinary  life  and  character.  Men's  minds 
could  not  have  been  so  deeply  stirred  without  ade- 
quate cause.  He  could  have  been  no  common 
person,  by  whose  death  the  imagination  was  so  fear- 
23* 


270  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

fully  excited  that  it  laid  open  the  world  of  the  dead, 
and  beheld  apparitions  of  the  departed,  and  ac- 
counted the  darkness  of  the  day,  and  "the  rent  veil 
in  the  Temple,  as  appalling  portents. 

The  centurion,  who  had  command  of  the  band  of 
soldiers  having  in  charge  the  crucifixion,  and  those 
who  were  with  him,  when  he  saw  what  took  place, 
avowed  their  belief,  not  only  that  Jesus  was  inno- 
cent, but  that  he  was  what  the  Jews  had  said  he 
claimed  to  be,  the  Son  of  God. 

His  chosen  disciples,  with  the  exception  of  John, 
had  disappeared.  They  did  not  dare  to  shovf  them- 
selves, lest  they  should  be  recognized  as  his  particu- 
lar friends,  and  be  treated  accordingly.  But  the 
women,  who  had  followed  his  steps  with  the  ministry 
of  their  gentle  and  affectionate  offices,  endeavoring 
always  to  provide  for  his  comfort,  when,  as  must 
so  often  have  been  the  case,  he  was  worn  out  by 
fatigue  and  hunger  and  thirst,  these  women  stood 
looking  on  at  a  distance  ;  and  when  he  had  breathed 
his  last,  and  the  crowd  was  dispersed,  they  still 
lingered  on  the  spot,  anxious  to  see  what  would  be 
done  with  those  beloved  remains. 

At  the  close  of  the  day,  the  priests  and  leading 
Pharisees  went  to  Pilate,  and  requested  that  he 
would  order  the  three  crucified  men  to  be  killed,  so 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  271 

that  their  bodies  might  be  removed,  and  the  ghastly 
spectacle  might  not  defile  the  next  day,  which  was 
the  Sabbath,  and  a  day  of  special  observance ;  so 
zealous  were  they,  blood  defiled  as  they  were,  for 
the  decencies  of  religion.  And  there  went  also  to 
the  governor,  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  a  man  of  wealth 
and  standing ;  a  member  of  the  Sanhedrim,  or 
Jewish  council,  who  had  refused  to  consent  to  the 
death  of  Jesus,  and  in  private  avowed  himself  his 
disciple  ;  and  begged  that  the  body  might  be  given 
up  to  him.  Pilate  was  so  surprised  to  hear  that 
Jesus  had  died  so  soon,  that  he  summoned  the  cen- 
turion who  had  been  charged  with  the  execution,  to 
ascertain  from  him  whether  Jesus  were  really  dead. 
It  was  not  common  for  the  crucified  to  die  so  soon. 
They  oftentimes  lingered  many  hours  and  whole 
days ;  but  it  is  to  be  considered  that  those,  upon 
whom  this  barbarous  death  was  commonly  inflicted, 
were  persons  of  a  rugged,  animal  nature,  possess- 
ing little  sensibility ;  while  the  physical  organization 
of  Jesus  must  have  been  of  such  a  character,  that 
the  wonder  truly  is,  when  we  consider  all  that  he 
endured,  not  that  he  died  so  soon,  but  that  he  did 
not  die  sooner ;  that  he  lived  to  reach  Mount  Cal- 
vary. I  suppose  that  Pilate  was  relieved,  when 
he  found  that  Jesus  was  dead,  and  he  had  thus 


272  HISTOEY    OF    JESUS. 

escaped  the  painful  necessity  of  giving  a  new  order 
for  his  death.  Satisfied  on  this  point,  he  directed 
that  the  wishes  of  the  priests,  and  of  Joseph, 
should  be  complied  with. 

We  are  told  that  they  requested,  not,  in  so  many 
words,  that  the  crucified  should  be  put  to  death,  but 
that  "their  legs  should  be  broken,"  and  the  bodies 
removed.*  Although  this  operation  could  not  fail  to 
accelerate  death,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  it  would 
terminate  life  as  speedily  as  was  intended.  But  I 
suppose  it  was  done  in  such  a  way,  or  accompanied 
by  so  severe  a  blow,  as  to  extinguish  life  instantane- 
ously. 

The  soldiers  proceeded  to  fulfil  the  orders  of 
Pilate.  Aware  that  Jesus  was  dead,  they  first  dis- 
patched the  two  who  were  crucified  with  him,  and 
then  turned  to  him ;  and  in  order  to  make  it  certain 
that  he  was  dead,  one  of  the  soldiers  thrust  his 
spear  into  his  side.  If,  as  is  probable,  the  soldier 
stood  in  front  of  the  body,  and  held  the  spear  in 
his  right  hand,  he  must  have  pierced  the  left  side. 
And  that  the  spear,  entering  upwards,  penetrated 
the  pericardium,  which  surrounds  the  heart,  appears 
from  what  followed.  As  the  spear  was  drawn  out, 
there  flowed  out  water  discolored  with  blood.  The 
pericardium  always  contains  a  small  quantity  of 
*  See  Note  R. 


HISTOKY    OF    JESUS.  273 

water,  which  serves  the  .office  of  lubricating  the 
heart,  and  which  is  said  to  be  somewhat  increased 
in  cases  of  violent  death. 

And  then  came  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  accom- 
panied by  Nicodemus,  with  attendants,  bringing  a 
large  quantity  of  myrrh  and  aloes ;  and  they  took 
the  body  down  from  the  cross,  and,  wrapping  it 
with  the  spices  in  linen  cloth,  they  bore  it  to  a 
garden  near  at  hand,  and  laid  it  in  a  new  tomb, 
hewn  out  of  solid  rock,  in  which  no  one  had  yet 
been  buried ;  the  women,  friends  of  Jesus,  looking 
on  all  the  while.  As  the  Sabbath  was  approaching, 
the  burial  was  hurried.  After  placing  a  large  stone 
at  the  mouth  of  the  tomb,  Joseph  and  the  rest  re- 
tired ;  the  women,  to  make  additional  preparations 
for  the  burial  of  their  friend  in  a  manner  accordant 
with  the  love  they  bore  him,  and  to  wait  till  the 
Sabbath  should  be  over. 

After  the  body  had  been  given  up  to  the  friends 
of  Jesus,  and  been  buried  by  them,  the  priests  and 
Pharisees  went  to  the  governor,  and  requested  him 
to  grant  them  a  guard,  to  be  stationed  at  the  tomb, 
as  they  had  heard  that  Jesus  had  said  that  he 
would  rise  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day,  and  they 
were  afraid  that  his  disciples  might  go  and  remove 
the  body  from  the  sepulchre,  and  then  give  out  that 


274  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

lie  had  come  to  life,  and  so  the  imposture  would  be 
worse  than  ever.  Pilate  granted  their  request.  A 
seal  was  so  attached  to  the  stone,  or  to  a  cord 
stretched  across  the  stone,  that  it  could  not  be  re- 
moved w^ithoTit  breaking  the  seal,  and  a  guard  was 
set.  All  this  was  done  as  privately  as  possible, 
after  the  departure  of  those  who  had  laid  the  body 
in  the  tomb,  or  the  next  day.  The  disciples  of 
Jesus  do  not  appear  to  have  known  that  a  guard 
was  stationed  there,  until  afterwards. 

The  day  after  his  death  and  burial  was  the  Sab- 
bath ;  a  day  of  rest  indeed  to  him.  But  although 
his  body,  no  longer  racked  with  pain,  heaving  no 
longer  with  the  pulse  of  weary,  struggling  life,  re- 
posed in  the  peaceful  arms  of  the  angel  of  death, 
yet  that  soul,  mighty  in  its  truth  and  goodness,  was 
still  living,  as  all  souls  live.  That  could  not  die. 
It  was  repairing  its  God-given  energy  ;  and,  by  the 
same  transcendent  power  by  which  it  summoned 
Lazarus  from  the  grave,  it  was  about  to  reanimate 
and  reawaken  that  frail  and  mangled  form  of  flesh. 

And  the  Sabbath  came,  and  the  sun  rose  and 
shone  on  that  silent  tomb,  and  the  hours  circled  in 
their  wonted  order.  The  priests  went  through  with 
their  cumbrous  formalities  in  the  Temple,  relieved 
from  their  fears,  exulting   in  their  triumph,  and 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  275 

dreading  no  change.  The  people  missed  that  new 
and  mighty  teacher,  whose  works  of  power  and 
beneficence  had  filled  them  all  with  wonder,  and 
whose  voice,  that  made  their  hearts  burn  within 
them,  still  lingered  in  their  ears  with  an  unwonted 
fascination.  His  disciples,  rudely  awakened  from 
their  brief,  bright  dream,  were  plunged  in  the 
deepest  sorrow.  He,  whose  presence  had  been  their 
light,  calling  into  life  the  most  magnificent  hopes, 
had  perished  on  the  vile  cross,  and  they  were  lost 
in  thick  darkness.  His  body  lay  lacerated,  dead, 
in  the  tomb.  What  remained  for  them,  but  to 
mourn  their  blasted  lives,  and,  broken-hearted,  to 
turn  their  heavy  steps  back  again  to  Gralilee,  there 
to  ply  their  irksome  nets  again  upon  the  lake,  feed- 
ing themselves  on  sad  memories  of  the  Past.  How 
often,  in  their  folly,  had  they  disputed  which  should 
be  the  first  in  the  grand  kingdom  !  And  now  there 
was  to  be  no  first;  the  whole  bright  vision  had 
melted  into  air.  The  throne  of  the  Messiah, 
blazing  with  pomp,  had  disappeared,  and  there  stood 
before  them  the  grim  cross,  with  the  body  of  their 
fancied  prince  hanging  there,  torn  and  bleeding ! 
Little  dreamed  they  that  that  vile  instrument  of 
death  was  to  surmount  thousands  of  temples,  and 
be  worshipped  as  a  divine  symbol,  and  give  its  name 


276  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

to  the  fairest  of  the  constellations !  How  must 
they  have  wept  over  their  utter  disappointment ! 
And  yet  in  what  tenderness  must  their  hearts  have 
been  dissolved,  and  how  must  their  tears  have 
gushed  forth  afresh,  as  often  as  the  tones  of  that 
loved  voice  woke  again  in  their  minds,  and  the 
image  of  the  master  they  had  adored  rose  vividly 
to  remembrance,  and  they  recalled  his  looks,  beam- 
ing with  affection,  his  words,  burning  with  Truth. 
What  though  he  had  said  he  would  rise  again; 
what  now  were  words,  however  vividly  remembered, 
to  the  overwhelming,  present  fact.  He  was  gone. 
The  midnight  of  death  had  shut  down  and  separated 
him  from  them.     The  inexorable  grave  held  him. 

Again  the  sun  set,  and  the  shadows  of  night 
gathered  over  Jerusalem  and  its  thousands ;  and 
the  women,  with  their  spices  and  unguents  all  pre- 
pared, waited  for  another  day.  The  day  drew  on. 
And  as  its  first  grey  light  glimmered  through  the 
curtains  of  the  East,  the  body  in  the  tomb  began  to 
stir  again  with  returning  life,  and  Jesus  awoke  from 
the  profound  sleep  of  death,  and  rose  up  from  his 
rocky  couch  and  stood  upon  his  feet,  and  was  again 
wholly  himself;  and  at  once  he  knew  where  he  was, 
and  all  that  had  happened.  Moving  away  the  stone 
from  the  mouth  of  the  sepulchre,  he  came  forth, 


HISTORY    OP    JESUS.  277 

and  stood  leaning  on  the  stone,  breathing  the  fresh 
morning  air.  To  the  guard,  affrighted  at  this 
sudden  and  strange  apparition,  dressed  all  in  white, 
and  gleaming  on  them  through  the  twilight,  it 
seemed  as  if  the  earth,  (jarred  by  the  motion  of 
.the  stone,)  had  quaked  again,  and  this  startling 
figure  had  alighted  before  them  out  of  Heaven. 
Paralyzed  with  fear,  they  were  at  first  struck  mo- 
tionless, and  became  as  dead  men ;  but  soon,  reco- 
vering themselves  in  a  degree,  they  fled  with  the 
greatest  precipitation  to  the  city  and  to  their  em- 
ployers; declaring,  with  the  natural  exaggeration 
of  terror,  that  there  had  been  an  earthquake,  and 
a  supernatural  messenger  had  appeared  from  Hea- 
ven, *with  eyes  like  lightning,  and  raiment  white 
as  snow,'  and-  had  removed  the  stone  from  the  tomb, 
and  sate  upon  it. 

In  the  meanwhile,  Mary  of  Magdala,  and  Mary 
the  mother  of  James,  and  other  women  who  had 
followed  Jesus  from  Galilee,  were  on  their  way  to 
the  tomb,  bringing  with  them  sweet  spices  to  do 
honor  to  the  dead,  according  to  the  customs  of  the 
country.  They  did  not  know  that  a  guard  was 
stationed  at  the  tomb.  Had  they  known  it,  they 
would  hardly  have  ventured  near  the  spot,  to  be 
exposed  to  the  rude  jests  of  those  rough  Roman 
24 


278  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

soldiers,  especially  as  they  must  then  have  known 
also,  that  they  would  not  be  permitted  to  open  the 
tomb.  As  they  drew  near  to  the  place,  it  occurred 
to  them  that  they  would  have  difficulty  in  rolling 
away  the  stone.  In  this  perplexity  they  reached 
the  spot,  and  to  their  great  alarm  found  the  stone 
removed,  the  tomb  open. 

At  this  sight,  Mary  of  Magdala,  thinking  of 
Jesus  only  as  the  object  of  the  most  cruel  persecu- 
tion, was  instantly  possessed  with  the  conviction 
that  his  enemies  had  rifled  the  tomb  of  its  contents ; 
determined  that  the  dead  body  of  one  w^hom  they 
so  bitterly  hated,  should  not  rest  in  peace  where  his 
friends  had  laid  it.  Carried  away  by  this  very 
natural  but  precipitate  impression,  she  ran  back 
with  the  utmost  haste  and  alarm  to  the  city,  to  tell 
Peter  and  John  that  the  tomb  had  been  entered,  and 
the  body  taken  away. 

The  other  women  remained  on  the  spot,  wonder- 
ing what  could  have  happened ;  supposing  with 
Mary,  that  his  relentless  persecutors  had  pursued 
Jesus  even  after  death,  and  wreaked  their  vengeance 
on  his  lifeless  remains.  With  exclamations  of  sur- 
prise and  grief  they  approached  and  looked  into  the 
tomb,  and  suddenly  there  appeared  before  them  a 
person  in  a  long  white  dress,  who  immediately  spoke 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  279 

to  tliem,  bidding  them  not  be  afraid,  saying  tbat  be 
knew  wbom  they  were  seeking,  Jesus,  who  had  just 
been  crucified,  but  that  he  was  not  there,  (as  they 
expected  to  find  him.)  *  *  The  dead  is  not  here :  he 
is  risen :  but  go  tell  his  disciples  and  Peter  that  he 
is  risen,  and  will  meet  them  in  Galilee,  whither  he 
goes  before  them :  doubt  not,  it  is  as  I  tell  you.' 

This  unknown  person,  "  a  young  man  in  a  long 
white  garment,"  as  he  is  described  in  one  of  the 
records,  was,  as  I  believe,  no  other  than  Jesus  him- 
self, who,  having  risen,  and  come  forth  wrapped  in 
the  white  grave-clothes,  putting  to  flight  by  his  ap- 
pearance the  terrified  guard,  had,  upon  hearing  the 
voices  of  the  women  approaching,  re-entered  the 
tomb,  not  wishing  then  to  make  himself  known.*  I 
recognize  Jesus  in  the  unknown  person  by  the 
particular  mention  made  of  Peter,  who,  when  his 
master  was  suffering  the  most  cruel  treatment,  had 
basely  and  with  oaths  disclaimed  all  knowledge  of 
him,  and  who,  without  this  express  message,  which 
breathes  the  god-like  magnanimity  of  Jesus,  might 
well  fear,  when  assured  that  his  master  was  alive 
again,  that  he  himself  would  be  disowned  in  return, 
as  he  well  knew  he  so  richly  merited.  At  all  events, 
even  after  receiving  this  hint  of  forgiveness,  how 
must  he  have  dreaded  to  meet  again  the  master's  eye  I 
*  See  Note  S. 


580  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

In  the  uncertain  twilight,  the  white  linen  cloth  in 
which  Jesus  was  wrapped,  was  the  most  conspicuous 
object.  Since,  of  course,  he  must  have  taken  off 
the  cloth  which  was  folded  'round  his  head,  and  it 
lay  apart  by  itself,  dimly  visible  in  the  faint  light, 
it  suggested  to  the  excited  imagination  of  some  of 
the  terrified  women  the  presence  of  two  persons  in 
white  ;  and  they  flew  back  to  the  city  on  the  wings 
of  joy  and  fear,  and  reported  to  the  disciples  that 
they  had  seen  two  angels  at  the  tomb,  who  had  told 
them  that  the  master  had  risen  ! 

In  the  meantime  Peter  and  John,  alarmed  at  the 
intelligence  brought  by  Mary,  hastened  to  the  spot 
to  verify  her  report.  John,  the  youngest  and  most 
active,  reached  the  tomb  first ;  but  a  natural  hesita- 
tion came  over  him,  and  he  paused  to  wait  for  Peter. 
As  soon  as  Peter  came  up,  they  both  entered  the 
tomb,  and  found  that  the  body  had  indeed  disap- 
peared ;  but  to  their  amazement,  the  grave-clothes 
were  left  behind,  part  in  one  place,  and  part  in  an- 
other. Wondering  at  this  circumstance,  at  a  loss 
to  understand  wh}^,  when  the  body  was  taken  away, 
the  grave-clothes  should  have  been  left,  they  came 
out  from  the  tomb,  and  went  away ;  leaving  Mary 
there,  who  had  followed  them,  and  with  whom, 
struck  dumb  by  these  mysterious  events,  they  ex- 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  281 

changed  not  a  word.  Their  silence  satisfied  her 
that  it  was  even  so,  just  as  she  had  supposed:  the 
body  had  been  carried  off. 

And  Mary  stood  there  and  wept;  and  as  she 
wept,  she  stooped  down  and  looked  into  the  sepul- 
chre. Her  attention  was  instantly  arrested  by  two 
white  objects,  (the  linen  cloths,)  but  before  she  had 
time  for  anything  but  surprise,  she  heard  some  one 
speak  to  her,  asking,  '  Woman,  what  are  you  weeping 
for?'  Before  she  knew  or  thought  whence  precisely 
this  simple  question  came,  she  uttered  in  reply  the 
thought  uppermost  in  her  mind;  *  Because  they 
have  taken  away  my  master,  and  I  know  not  where 
they  have  laid  him.'  While  in  the  act  of  uttering 
these  words  she  heard  some  one  behind  her,  for,  as 
soon  as  they  passed  her  lips,  she  turned  round,  and 
saw  Jesus,  who  said  to  her,  ^  Woman,  what  are  you 
weeping  for  ?  Whom  do  you  seek  ?'  and  who  it  was, 
I  believe,  that  had  put  the  question  to  her  before, 
when  she  was  stooping  to  look  into  the  tomb,  and 
not  having  caught  her  answer,  was  led  to  repeat  it 
with  an  addition,  as  one  naturally  does  when  no 
answer  has  been  returned  to  the  first  inquiry.  It 
was  natural  also  that  Mary's  posture  should  confuse 
her  perceptions  as  to  the  direction  whence  the  voice 
proceeded.  As,  with  eyes  blinded  by  her  tears, 
24* 


282  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

she  barely  glanced  at  the  person  who  spoke  to  her, 
she  took  him  for  the  gardener,  and  without  answer- 
ing his  question  again,  she  said :  *  Sir,  if  you  have 
borne  him  hence,  tell  me  where  you  have  laid  him, 
and  I  will  take  him  away.*  Jesus  said  to  her, 
*  Mary !'  At  the  dear  sound  of  that  impressive 
voice  she  turned  fully  round,  gazed  at  him  for  a 
moment  with  eyes  all  aflame  with  awe  and  rapture, 
and  then  fell  breathless  at  his  feet,  exclaiming,  '  My 
master  !'  So  long  did  she  remain  in  that  attitude 
of  reverence,  so  convulsively  did  she,  in  her  emo- 
tion, grasp  his  knees,  as  if  she  could  not  enough 
assure  herself  that  it  was  really  he,  flesh  and  blood, 
that  he  said  to  her,  in  efiect,  (so  I  understand 
the  here  somewhat  obscure  record,)  'Do  not  stop 
to  embrace  me  now.  You  will  have  other  oppor- 
tunities of  seeing  me.  I  have  not  yet  left  the 
world;  but  go  and  tell  my  disciples  that  I  am 
about  to  ascend  to  my  Father  and  their  Father ;  to 
my  God  and  their  God.'  She  then  went  and  told 
them  she  had  seen  the  master  alive,  and  that  he 
had  said  these  things  to  her. 

When  Mary,  upon  returning  to  the  city,  learned 
that  the  other  women  had  seen  two  angels  at  the 
tomb,  as  they  said  and  believed,  immediately,  with 
that  precipitation  which  marks  the  whole  action  of 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  283 

her  excited  mind  on  this  eventful  morning,  she 
concluded  that  the  white  objects  she  had  seen  when 
she  looked  into  the  sepulchre,  and  which  had  star- 
tled her  so,  were  the  very  angels  that  had  been 
seen  by  the  women,  and  had  spoken  to  them ;  and 
that  it  was  one  of  these  angels  that  had  asked  her 
why  she  was  weeping,  when  she  was  stooping  down 
and  looking  into  the  tomb,  and  when  she  knew  not 
whence  the  question  came.  And  so  she  was  per- 
fectly satisfied  that  she,  too,  had  seen  the  angels, 
and  that  they  had  spoken  to  her ;  and  so  she  said 
always  afterwards,  in  relating  her  part  in  these 
startling  occurrences.  It  was,  I  repeat,  from  Jesus, 
behind  her,  that  the  first  question,  which  she  after- 
wards attributed  to  the  angels,  came ;  and  the  cir- 
cumstance, that  when  she  turned  towards  him  he 
asked  the  same  question  more  pointedly,  looks  as 
if  he  had  asked  the  question  before,  without  re- 
ceiving an  answer.  It  is  very  natural  that  Mary, 
after  she  had  seen  the  other  women,  and  heard  their 
story,  should,  in  her  characteristic  haste,  conclude 
that  she,  too,  had  seen  the  angels.  But  if,  at  the 
moment  she  saw  the  white  objects  in  the  tomb,  she 
took  them  for  angels,  and  believed  that  it  was  they 
who  asked  her  why  she  wept,  it  is  not  at  all  likely 
that  her  attention  would  have  been  so  readily  drawn 


284  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

away  from  them.  They  would  at  once  have  so 
riveted  her  whole  soul,  that  every  avenue  of  sense 
would  have  been  closed  against  all  other  sights 
and  sounds.  As  it  was,  had  there  really  been 
angels,  clad  in  white,  in  the  sepulchre,  they  were 
there,  as  it  appears,  only  for  show.  They  served 
no  purpose ;  they  communicated  no  intelligence. 
Mary  turned  her  back  upon  them,  to  speak  to 
one  whom  she  supposed  to  be  the  gardener. 
Why  seek  we  angels,  then,  the  living,  among  the 
dead? 

It  is  stated  in  one  of  the  records  that,  as  the 
women  were  returning  from  the  tomb  with  the  mes- 
sage of  the  angels,  they  were  met  by  Jesus,  and 
that  they  prostrated  themselves  before  him,  and 
held  him  by  his  feet.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  this 
mistake  arose.  Shortly  after  the  women  came  into 
the  city,  saying  that  they  had  seen  angels  at  the 
tomb,  who  told  them  that  Jesus  was  alive,  Mary 
came  rushing  in,  saying  that  she  had  seen  Jesus 
himself  !  Now,  as  Mary  and  the  other  women  had 
all  gone  to  the  tomb  together,  it  is  natural  that 
some,  to  whom  these  different  reports  came,  should 
take  the  impression  that  all  the  women  had  seen 
Jesus.  It  was  Mary  by  whom  he  was  first  seen, 
and  who  held  him  by  his  feet. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  285 

In  the  course  of  the  Divine  Story,  which  now 
draws  reluctantly  to  its  close,  I  have  forborne  to 
remark  at  any  length  upon  the  character  of  the 
records  whence  it  is  drawn ;  but  were  ever  writings 
so  artless  and  truthful  ?  The  character  of  Jesus 
himself  is  hardly  more  fully  impressed  with  truth 
and  nature  than  these  accounts  of  him  which  have 
come  down  to  us.  Their  authors  tell  the  story 
with  such  simplicity,  with  such  unbounded  careless- 
ness, with  such  an  entire  absence  of  any  thought 
but  of  stating  facts  just  as  they  seemed  to  them, 
so  all  unconscious  were  they  of  the  True  Spirit  by 
which  they  were  animated  to  their  work,  that  the 
Life  of  Jesus,  as  it  is  told  in  the  Four  Gospels,  ap- 
pears emphatically  to  have  written  itself.  It  is 
what  it  is,  by  no  design  of  their  authors ;  by  no 
human  will.  These  writings  "  grew  as  grows  the 
grass."  The  old  doctrine  of  Plenary  Inspiration 
in  regard  to  them,  comes  true  after  all ;  and  true 
in  a  far  deeper  and  more  natural  sense  than  has  yet 
been  imagined.  In  fine,  the  more  I  have  studied 
them,  the  more  deeply  am  I  impressed  with  their 
character  as  matchless  specimens  of  truth-telling; 
not  that  their  authors  always  state  things  just  as 
they  were,  but  they  always  give  us  the  facts,  with 
childlike  freedom  and  simplicity,  just  as  they  appre- 


286  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

hended  them ;  so  that,  when  we  have  once  come  to 
understand  their  modes  of  thought  and  expression, 
we  can,  by  means  of  the  form  and  pressure  which 
the  occurrences  they  relate,  took  and  left  in  their 
minds,  arrive,  in  numerous  instances,  very  nearly 
at  the  real  state  of  the  case. 

And  in  no  part  do  these  records  more  fully  breathe 
the  life  of  truth  and  nature,  than  in  their  accounts 
of  what  happened  at  the  sepulchre  on  that  morning 
when  Jesus  reappeared  alive.  So  wondrously  true 
are  they  to  all  those  passions  which  were  then  in 
full  play,  to  the  wonder,  the  fear,  the  joy  which 
were  all  awakened,  and  which  thrill  through  the 
whole  story,  that  it  is  upon  the  character  of  the 
testimony  thus  afforded  to  the  resurrection  of  Jesus, 
that  my  faith  in  this  fact  mainly  rests.  The  fact 
itself  is  involved  in  the  thickest  mystery.  What 
were  the  conditions  of  his  existence  after  he  had 
undergone  the  awful  change  of  death  ?  Where  was 
he  after  his  resurrection,  when  not  with  his  dis- 
ciples ?  And  what  finally  became  of  him  ?  These 
are  questions  which  not  only  baffle  curiosity,  but, 
like  the  creation  of  the  first  man,  they  repel  every 
attempt  at  a  solution.  Nevertheless,  that  he  was 
alive  again,  on  that  memorable  morning,  it  is  out 
of  my  power  to  question,  surrounded  though  the 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  287 

fact  is,  with  these  inevitable  difficulties.  It  is  at- 
tested hj  evidence  which,  as  I  have  said,  no  human 
mind  had  any  thought  of  fui*nishing,  the  evidence 
of  Nature,  of  God  himself. 

How  he  woke  to  life  again,  we  can  only  faintly 
surmise.  It  was  by  the  native  force  of  his  mighty 
God-inspired  being,  prompted  to  this  unprecedented 
act  by  the  love  he  bore  his  disciples,  and  by  his 
interest  in  the  Truth,  with  which  his  inmost  life  was 
identified.  That  re-animated  his  lifeless  body. 
Why  he  came  to  life  again,  consenting  to  re-visit 
and  re-occupy  that  poor  tenement  of  clay,  I  cannot 
undertake  to  say ;  except  that  I  do  not  see  how, 
had  he  not  re-appeared  to  his  disciples,  they  could 
have  been  saved  from  utter  despair.  His  death, 
much  as  he  sought  to  prepare  them  for  it,  came 
upon  them  at  last  like  a  thunderbolt,  shivering  into 
atoms  all  their  fond  visions,  but  giving  them  no  light. 
They  were  lost  in  the  thick  gloom  that  succeeded. 
And  I  know  not  how  those  timid,  bewildered  men 
would  ever  have  emerged  from  that  cloud,  the 
brave  Apostles  of  Everlasting  Truth,  clad  in  power 
and  great  glory,  had  not  Jesus  shown  himself  to 
them  again  in  person.  In  the  light  of  his  renewed 
presence,  though  the  pinnacles  of  the  Messiah's 
kingdom  began  again  to  glitter  in  the  distance,  and 


288  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

they  asked :  '^  Lord,  wilt  thou  now  restore  the  king- 
dom to  Israel?"  yet  their  love  for  him  was  kindled 
into  a  new  enthusiasm,  and  their  devotion  to  him 
was  renewed  with  increased  vigor,  and  they  post- 
poned their  ancient  hopes,  and  lived  and  died  in 
his  service,  doing  as  he  commanded. 

After  the  brief  interview  with  Mary  at  the  sepul- 
chre, Jesus,  it  is  recorded,  was  seen  repeatedly. 
He  joined  two  of  the  disciples,  as  they  were  jour- 
neying to  Emmaus,  and  continued  with  them  for 
some  time ;  but  they  did  not  recognize  him  at  first ; 
and  when  they  did  recognize  him,  they  were  amazed 
and  bewildered,  and  he  disappeared  from  their 
sight.  Again,  in  the  evening,  when  the  disciples 
were  all  together,  he  came  among  them  on  two 
different  occasions,  with  an  interval  of  a  week.  In 
the  last  chapter  of  John's  account,  we  are  told  that 
Jesus  appeared  to  seven  of  them  while  they  were 
engaged  in  fishing  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  It  is 
also  said  by  Paul,  in  one  of  his  epistles,  that  he 
was  seen  by  more  than  five  hundred  of  the  disciples, 
at  once;  although,  with  a  careless  honesty,  it  is 
elsewhere  stated  that  some  doubted  whether  it  were 
really  he.  After  these  interviews  with  his  disciples, 
at  different  times,  during  forty  days  after  his  cruci- 
fixion, it  is  recorded  that,  after  commanding  them 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  289 

to  go  abroad  and  publish  to  the  world  all  that  they 
had  seen  and  heard,  he  led  them  out  to  Bethany, 
and  gave  them  his  farewell  blessing,  and  after  that 
was  seen  by  them  no  more. 

What  he  is  stated  to  have  said  on  these  several 
occasions,  sounds  so  like  him,  is  in  such  keeping 
with  his  manner  of  speaking,  and  comes  in  so  natu- 
rally, that  it  goes  far  to  establish  his  identity  after 
his  resurrection.  What  human  mind  could  have 
joined  to  the  heaven-wrought  texture  of  this  his- 
tory, so  luminous  with  reality,  another  piece,  which, 
fabricated  by  the  ingenuity  of  man,  would  not  have 
shown  that  it  was  woven  in  quite  another  loom? 
Nevertheless,  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  notices 
of  Jesus,  after  his  resurrection,  are  very  brief  and 
imperfect.  They  suggest  questions  which  will  not 
be  suppressed,  and  cannot  be  answered. 

What  finally  became  of  him  is  known  only  to 
God.  Here  is  a  secret,  which,  in  our  present  state 
of  knowledge,  is  unfathomable.  As  we  would  not 
be  wise  on  this  point  above  what  is  written,  it  can- 
not fail  to  arrest  our  attention  that,  in  the  record 
attributed  to  his  favorite  disciple,  no  mention  is 
made  of  his  final  disappearance,  and  that  in  the 
other  three  records  there  is  not  a  word  that  requires 
us  to  understand  their  authors  as  intending  even 
25 


290  HISTORY    OF    JESUS. 

to  say  that  he  ascended  visibly  into  Heaven.  They 
simply  state  that  he  bade  them  farewell,  was  parted 
from  them  and  carried  up  into  Heaven.  It  may  be 
that  they  meant  to  be  understood  that  they  saw  him 
ascend.  And  it  may  be  that  they  have  stated  only 
their  own  inference.  He  disappeared  from  their 
sight;  and  they,  of  course,  and  justly,  inferred 
that  he  went  up  to  God.  It  is  true,  in  the  first 
chapter  of  Luke's  History  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  we  have  a  somewhat  particular  account 
of  the  visible  ascension  of  Jesus.  But  when  we 
consider  the  silence  of  the  four  principal  records  on 
this  point,  and  bring  into  view  the  ease  and  fre- 
quency with  which  inferences  are  converted  into 
facts,  and  facts  are  amplified,  we  shall  hesitate  to 
accord  implicit  assent  to  a  statement  which  does  not 
profess  to  be  given  by  an  eyewitness,  and  is  not  in 
accordance  with  the  spiritual  character,  of  Jesus. 

And  thus  is  it  with  all  things.  The  small  sphere 
of  our  vision  is  encircled  with  an  impenetrable 
darkness.  And  all  that  we  know  is,  that  all  life  is 
passing  "from  mystery  to  mystery,  from  God  to 
God." 

My  chief  aim,  in  the  foregoing  pages,  has  been 
to  give  expression  to  a  simple  sense  of  Truth. 


HISTORY    OF    JESUS.  291 

While  many  have  gone  away,  each  to  his  own, 
hopeless  of  beholding  the  living  Son  of  God,  I  seem 
to  myself  to  have  been  standing,  for  many  years, 
at  the  dark  tomb  of  superstition,  to  which  he  was 
long  ago  consigned  by  hands  that  meant  to  do  him 
honor;  and  although  the  military  guard,  so  long 
stationed  there  by  Church  and  State,  has  disap- 
peared, and  the  stone,  with  its  priestly  seal,  has 
been  rolled  away,  yet  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  he 
had  been  borne  hence,  and  I  knew  not  where  they 
had  laid  him.  Like  Mary,  I  have  thirsted  to  know 
whither  he  had  been  carried.  At  last,  he  has  come 
forth  from  the  dim,  cold  sepulchre,  and  I  recognize 
him,  glowing  in  all  the  fresh  and  breathing  beauty 
of  nature,  in  this  *  young  man,'  clad  in  the  white 
robes  of  Innocence  and  Truth,  whose  wondrous 
story  I  have  here  endeavored  to  tell.  What  heart 
will  not  prostrate  itself  at  his  feet,  and  cry,  "  My 
master !"  And  I  can  wonder  no  more  that  his 
first  disciples  exhausted  the  language  of  reverence, 
when  they  spoke  of  him,  and  that  he  has  been  wor- 
shipped for  centuries,  as  more  than  an  angel. 


NOTES 


26 


NOTES 


Note  A.  p.  26. 

"  Why  did  you  seek  me  ?  "  he  replied,  "  Did  you  not  know  that  I 
ought  to  he  here,  where  you  have  found  me,  in  my  Father's  house  ?  " 
For  this  rendering  of  the  original  see  Kuinoel,  who  explains  the 
purport  of  the  reply  of  Jesus  to  be  :  "  Why  did  you  seek  me  else- 
where ?  Did  you  not  know  that  I  could  be  nowhere  but  here  in 
the  Temple,  the  house  of  my  Father  7  "  And  he  adduces  the 
authority  of  Origen,  Theophylact,  and  others. 


Note  B.  p.  27.       ^^_  (xSU.'iU^^ 


When  I  say,  "  There  is  nothing  in  nature  that  renders  it  impossible 
for  a  being  to  be  born  possessed  of  all  the  gifts  which  Jesus  possessed,'' 
I  mean,  there  is  nothing  in  nature  that  renders  it  impossible  in 
the  course  of  nature  and  without  a  departure  from  the  laws  of  nature. 
In  other  words,  things  are  so  constituted,  ah  origine,  as  to  admit 
of  the  appearance  in  the  world  of  such  a  man,  so  singularly  en- 
dowed, without  interrupting  the  established  order  of  things.  It 
does  not  necessitate  a  violation  of  natural  laws.  On  the  contrary, 
the  order  of  nature  authorizes  us  to  look  for  the  appearance  of 
individuals  extraordinarily  gifted.  It  is  only  necessary  that  any 
new  and  unprecedented  gifts,  which  an  individual  may  claim  to 
possess,  should  be  shown  to  work  like  the  known  laws  and  agen- 
cies of  nature.    The  new  and  special  endowments  of  Jesus  fulfil 


296  NOTES. 

this  condition.  Unprecedented  as  they  are,  they  illustrate  the 
genius  of  nature  in  the  whole  manner  of  their  operation ;  and 
his  miracles,  considered  as  his  acts,  so  far  from  being  incongruous 
with  his  character,  as  they  would  be  if  they  were  fables,  help  to 
manifest  its  greatness  and  beauty. 

In  order  to  perceive  that  the  extraordinary  facts  of  the  life  of 
Jesus,  commonly,  and,  as  I  think,  erroneously,  regarded  as  de- 
partures from  the  laws  of  nature,  were  strictly  in  conformity  with 
the  order  of  things,  we  have  only,  it  appears  to  me,  to  consider, 

1.  The  facts  themselves. 

2.  The  account  which  Jesus  himself  gives  of  them ;  in  other 
words,  the  way  in  which  they  are  represented  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

1.  As  to  the  facts  themselves.  Putting  out  of  view  the  way 
in  which  they  are  spoken  of  in  the  Records,  I  am  entirely  at 
a  loss  to  understand  how  we  can  advance  a  step  in  an  examina- 
tion, which  is  to  determine  whether  they  be  true  or  false,  without 
the  guidance  of  that  sound  and  established  principle  of  all  in- 
quiry into  facts  and  phenomena,  which  requires  us  to  presume 
that  any  new  facts  that  may  present  themselves  are,  if  true,  refer- 
rible  to  laws  known  or  unknown.  Until  we  are  acquainted  with 
all  nature,  our  ignorance  forbids  us  to  question  its  inviolability. 
A  fact  that  is  irreconcilable  with  our  observation  and  experience 
does  not  necessarily  imply  a  departure  from  the  order  of  nature. 
It  only  reveals  the  need  of  a  more  comprehensive  generalization. 
If  the  extraordinary  facts  of  the  life  of  Christ  were  approached 
in  this  way,  and  considered  by  the  light  of  that  principle  by  which 
men  are  guided  in  their  investigation  of  all  other  facts,  the  value 
of  the  miracles  of  the  New  Testament,  so  far  from  being  impaired, 
would  be  greatly  increased.  For  they  would  be  found  to  illus- 
trate the  relations  of  matter  and  spirit,  and  much  else  of  the  deep- 
est interest.  And  instead  of  having  a  Christianity  defined  and 
interpreted  by  a  narrow  and  mechanical  philosophy,  we  should 
have  a  philosophy  based  upon  Christianity. 

2.  As  to  the  account  which  Jesus  himself  gave  of  his  mira- 
cles, it  is  only  necessary  to  observe,  what  must  be  apparent  to  ev- 
ery intelligent  inquirer,  that  he  makes  no  distinction  between 


NOTES.  297 

things  ordinary  and  extraordinaiy.  He  referred  all  things  direct- 
ly to  God.  So  that,  so  far  as  his  language  is  concerned,  if  we 
consider  his  miracles  as  wrought  by  a  special  interposition  of 
God,  we  are  bound  to  consider  things  confessedly  natural  as  like- 
wise wrought  by  a  special  interposition  of  God. 

Modern  philosophy  sees  in  this  great  Creation  a  mechanical 
structure  of  dead,  iron  laws  ;  and,  to  account  for  such  facts  as 
those  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  when  it  does  not  reject  them  as  incred- 
ible, has  to  resort  to  the  supposition  of  a  departure  from  the  es- 
tablished order  of  things.  Whereas  the  philosophy  of  the  He- 
brews, the  idea  that  runs  through  the  Scriptures,  Old  and  New, 
is  that  all  things  imply  and  reveal  the  immediate  agency  of  God. 
And  this  idea  was  so  deeply  impressed  on  the  Hebrew  mind,  that 
it  modified  the  popular  forms  of  speech.  Thus,  when  the  disci- 
ples asked  Jesus  why  he  spoke  in  parables,  he  replied  (mark  the 
mode  of  expression  which  he  uses) :  "  Unto  you  it  is  given  to  under- 
stand, &c.,  but  to  them  it  is  not  given  "  ;  that  is,  you  are  able,  they 
are  not  able.  The  ability  to  understand  is  represented  as  a  gift, 
given  or  withheld. 

Note  C.  p.  42. 

At  his  baptism  the  high  thought  of  Jesus,  or,  to  use  a  mode  of 
speaking  current  of  late,  his  Ideal,  first  came  in  contact  with 
the  Actual,  and  a  new  accession  of  self-knowledge,  a  new  strength 
of  conviction,  such  as,  in  the  nature  of  things,  could  be  acquired 
in  no  other  way,  was  the  necessary  result.  A  thought,  whether 
true  or  false,  high  or  low,  can  be  completely  tested,  and  shown  to 
us  in  its  strength,  or  weakness,  only  by  action.  "We  can  know 
only  as  we  do.  "We  can  know  what  sight  is  only  by  seeing.  Had 
Jesus  been  the  victim  and  dupe  of  an  illusion,  it  would  have  been 
proved  to  have  been  so  the  instant  he  undertook  to  realize  it. 
But  as  it  was  a  pure  and  true  aim  by  which  he  was  moved  when 
he  went  to  be  baptized,  in  becoming  an  act  it  produced  its  natural 
fruit,  a  state  of  mental  elevation,  which  the  open  heaven,  the  de- 
scending dove,  and  the  voice  from  heaven  only  inadequately  rep- 
resent. 

26* 


2^S  NOTES. 

Indeed,  the  whole  life  of  Jesus,  so  beneficent  and  harmonious, 
considered  as  the  fruit  and  illustration  of  his  inward  purpose,  is 
evidence  decisive  that  that  purpose  was  true,  and  of  course  from 
God.  '  Such  good  and  beauty  could  not  have  been  the  offspring 
of  an  illusion,  any  more  than  grapes  could  grow  upon  thistles. 

Note  D.  p.  45. 

I  believe  it  is  always  the  case,  that,  when  the  mind  is  in  a  state 
of  extraordinary  emotion;  occasioned  by  hope,  or  fear,  or  religious 
reverence,  it  is  apt  to  transfigure  and  interpret  in  accordance  with 
its  own  emotions  at  the  moment,  the  most  familiar  incidents,  in- 
cidents which  at  another  time  would  hardly  be  noticed. 

Note  E.  p.  50. 

What  is  more  strikingly  characteristic  of  Jesus  than  that 
his  modes  of  thought  and  speech  were  suggested  and  shaped 
by  outward  occurrences'?  In  view  of  this  peculiarity,  is  it  not  nat- 
ural to  conjecture  that  the  passage  (Ps.  xci.  11,  12)  occurring  in 
the  account  of  the  second  temptation  was  suggested  by  some  such 
incident  as  I  have  supposed,  namely,  by  his  having  stumbled  or 
been  in  danger  of  falling  ?  It  is  curious  that  mention  should  be 
made  of  stones  in  both  the  first  two  temptations. 

Note  F.  p.  56. 

"  He  had  no  idea,  I  conceive,  of  estahlisJiing  a  peculiar  school  or 
visible  Church^  It  is  worthy  of  note,  that  the  word  Church  occurs 
only  in  two  passages  of  the  recorded  sayings  of  Jesus.  1 .  Matt. 
xvi.  18,  "  —  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  ChurchP 
2.  Matt,  xviii.  17,  "And  if  he  shall  neglect  to  hear  them,  tell  it 
unto  the  Church  ;  but  if  he  neglect  to  hear  the  Cliurch"  &c.  Had 
it  been  an  express  design  of  Jesus  to  construct  a  grand  visible 
organization,  such  as  the  word  Church  instantly  suggests,  it  is  re- 
markable that  he  has  said  little  or  nothing  about  it,  especially  as 
he  gave  his  chosen  disciples  particular  instructions  as  to  the  man. 


NOTES.  299 

ner  in  which  they  were  to  discharge  the  missionary  duty  which  he 
imposed  on  them.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  any  institu- 
tion of  the  nature  of  a  Church  could  be  organized,  without  ranks 
and  orders  and  offices  to  be  designated  by  titles.  But  Christ 
commanded  his  disciples  to  eschew  titles. 

And,  besides,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  original  word, 
translated  Churchy  had  no  such  peculiar  and  technical  sense,  before 
the  Apostolic  times,  as  this  English  word  conveys.  The  true 
meaning  of  the  original  word  is  convocation.  In  its  primary  sense, 
it  signifies  any  assembly  or  gathering  of  people. 

That  Christ  foresaw  the  influence  he  would  exert  needs  not  to 
be  questioned.  But  that  those  who  obeyed  his  instructions 
should  be  any  otherwise  distinguishable  from  other  men  than  by 
fervent  love  of  God  and  man,  he  never  appears  to  have  designed. 
He  proposed  no  distinctive  badge  but  Love.  "By  this  you  will 
be  known  as  my  disciples,  in  that  ye  love  one  another."  He  es- 
tablished no  positive  institutions.  Baptism  is  a  Jewish  rite.  He 
was  baptized,  but  he  never  baptized  others*  The  passage  in  which 
he  is  recorded  to  command  his  Apostles  to  go  forth  and  "  baptize  all 
nations,''  may  be  understood,  not  as  signifying  the  indispensable 
importance  of  the  external  form  of  baptism,  but  as  requiring  this 
form  only  as  a  sign  of  that  reformation  at  which  he  aimed.  The 
substance  and  spirit  of  this  command  is  :  "  Go  and  bring  all  men 
to  an  acknowledgment  of  the  truth."  As  baptism  was  then 
the  recognized  mode  by  which  a  change  of  mind  and  life  was 
expressed,  the  sign  is  used  by  Jesus  for  the  thing  signified.  And 
when  he  said  in  another  place,  "  He  that  believeth  and  is  bap'- 
tized  shall  (will)  be  saved,"  it  is  the  same  as  if  he  had  said :  "  He 
that  believeth  and  confesses  his  belief,"  &c. 


*  We  are  admonished  to  be  careful  how  we  lay  stress  upon  a  word  or  pas- 
sage not  in  harmony  with  the  general  tenor  of  the  history,  when  we  compare 
John  iii.  22  and  26  with  John  iv.  2.  If  it  were  not  for  the  last  of  these 
passages,  we  should  be  bound  to  believe  that  Jesus  himself  baptized,  which 
John  says  expressly  he  did  not.  A  striking  instance  this  of  the  careless,  con- 
fiding spirit  in  which  the  Evangelist  wrote.  How  easy,  by  the  way,  it  would 
be  to  convict  so  heedless  a  writer  of  falsehood,  if  he  were  not  happening  to  tell 
the  truth ! 


300  NOTES. 

lam  not  arguing  against  the  use  of  a  rite  of  baptism.  I  sim- 
ply say  that  Christ  did  not  institute  any  such  rite.  He  observed 
it,  it  is  true,  for  his  own  sake  ;  and  what  was  impressive  to  him 
may  well  be  so  to  others.  But,  I  repeat,  he  did  not  establish  it  as 
a  form  of  perpetual  and  universal  obligation.  He  put  nothing  of 
the  nature  of  a  ceremony  on  a  level  with  the  love  of  God  and 
man.  In  the  instructions,  so  remarkably  minute,  which  he  gave 
to  his  Apostles  (see  again  Matt,  x.),  he  made  no  mention  of 
baptism,  —  an  omission  not  to  be  accounted  for,  if  this  rite  were 
of  indispensable  importance.  His  language  (Matt.  x.  32)  is  : 
"  Whosoever  shall  confess  me  before  men,"  not,  whosoever  shall 
be  baptized.  All  things  considered,  my  belief  is,  that  Baptism, 
being  a  Jewish  and  Oriental  mode  of  expressing  a  religious  pur- 
pose, stands  to  Christianity  in  the  same  relation  with  the  Jewish 
and  Oriental  forms  of  speech  in  which  Christ  clothed  the  eternal 
truths  which  he  taught. 

With  regard  to  what  is  known  as  the  Lord's  Supper,  while  I 
admit  the  impressiveness  of  the  observance,  I  do  not  believe  that, 
on  the  occasion  out  of  which  it  has  grown,  Christ  had  any  thought 
of  founding  a  positive  institution.  The  request  to  be  remembered 
burst  from  an  agonized  heart  longing  for  the  comfort  of  human 
sympathy.  There  was  no  formality  then.  It  was  upon  this  very 
occasion,  out  of  which  has  been  made  a  sacrament  and  test  and 
badge  of  Christian  profession,  that  Christ  declared  Love  to  be  the 
sign  of  discipleship. 

But  so  it  always  is.  One  so  great  as  Christ,  appealing  so  might- 
ily to  the  wonder  and  veneration  of  men,  cannot  move,  but  that 
every  movement,  the  most  simple  burst  of  feeling,  hardens  into  an 
institution.  Thus  is  it  that  out  of  the  life  of  the  man  of  Nazareth, 
wonderful,  and  yet  free,  genial,  and  simple  as  the  woods  and 
flowers,  has  sprung  this  huge  and  imposing  structure  of  a  visible 
Church,  which,  professing  to  help  the  soul,  is  often  found  standing 
fearfully  in  its  way. 

While  I  say  that  Christ  did  not  establish  a  Church,  I  by  no 
means  imply  that  the  Church  can  have  no  claim  upon  our  respect 
and  support,  that  he  forbade  its  establishment.  The  religious 
observance  of  one  day  in  every  seven,  by  social  religious  exer- 


NOTES.  301 

cises,  is  not  required  by  Christ.  It  rests  not  on  his  authority, 
but  on  grounds  of  reason  and  human  necessities.  So  is  it  with  all 
religious  forms  and  associations.  They  must  find  their  justifica- 
tion in  their  adaptation  to  the  wants  of  mankind.  Christ  dealt 
with  eternal  principles.  He  lived  and  died  breathing  into  the 
world  religious  life.  Forms  and  institutions  he  left  to  take  care  of 
themselves. 


Note  G.  p.  71. 

For  an  explanation  of  the  fact  that  Jesus  appears  to  have  coun- 
tenanced the  belief  in  demoniacal  possession,  see  pp.  163,  164. 

Note  H.  p.  92. 

In  connection  with  the  account  here  given  of  the  woman  who 
was  healed  by  touching  the  clothes  of  Jesus,  there  should  be 
brought  into  view  an  influence  exerted  by  him,  which  was  very 
powerful,  which  was  inseparable  from  him,  which  operated  un- 
consciously both  on  his  part  and  on  the  part  of  those  who  came 
in  contact  Avith  him,  an  influence  which  has  never,  I  think,  been 
fairly  appreciated,  but  almost  entirely  lost  sight  of.     I  refer  to  the 
influence  of  his  personal  presence,  the  power  that  went  forth  through 
his  eye,  through  the  expression  of  his  face,  through  the  tones  of 
his  voice,  through  his  whole  manner  and  bearing.     Who  does  not 
know  how  powerful  these  things  are,  —  what  a  magic  there  is  in 
them,  —  how  they  fascinate  and  prepossess  us,  creating  in  us  con- 
fidence, respect,  and   affection.     They   seem    to  pluck  our  very 
hearts  out  of  our  bosoms.     When  they  are  expressive  of  sincerity 
and  good-will  and  love,  they  affect  us  as  nothing  else  affects  us. 
They  give  us  an  immediate  perception  of  the  most  beautiful  and 
the  best  things,  of  the  highest  beauty  and  the  highest  good.     In  a 
face   beaming  with  goodness  we    look   right    into   heaven   and 
behold  the  Divine,  and  thus  the  deepest  and  strongest  emotions 
are  excited,  and  the  central  springs  of  our  vitality  are  reached. 
Now  when  I  consider  what  manner  of  person  Christ  was,  from 
what  a  pure  and  complete  conviction  of  truth  he  spoke,  by  what 


302  NOTES. 

a  profound  sympathy  with  suffering  Humanity  he  was  inspired,  I 
find  it  impossible  not  to  believe  that  there  must  have  been  more 
than  a  magical  power  in  his  simple  personal  presence,  in  the  ten- 
derness and  clearness  and  earnestness  of  his  eyes.  His  voice, 
modulated  by  such  a  perfect  sense  of  tnith  as  he  possessed,  by 
such  deep  feeling  as  he  was  moved  by,  —  why,  there  must  have 
been  a  witchery  in  it,  as  it  were  the  voice  of  an  angel,  music  from 
heaven.  His  works  were  wonderful,  and  they  awakened  wonder. 
His  words  were  words  of  deathless  wisdom,  and,  however  spoken, 
must  have  impressed  all  who  heard  him.  But,  after  all,  we  may 
rely  upon  it,  it  was  the  way  in  which  he  did  those  wondeiful 
things,  the  way  in  which  he  spoke  those  words,  that  most  power- 
fully touched  the  hearts  of  those  around  him.  His  looks  and 
tones,  —  his  whole  manner,  steeped  in  the  truth  and  goodness  of 
his  heart,  and  expressive  of  those  qualities  which  are  attributes  of 
God  himself,  —  in  one  word,  his  visible  presence, —this  it  must 
have  been  that  stirred  most  mightily  the  hearts  of  those  who  were 
brought  into  personal  intercourse  with  him.  Men  saw  his  works, 
that  they  were  wonderful,  and  discerned  the  truth  that  was  in  his 
words  ;  but  in  himself,  in  his  beaming  and  commanding  look,  in 
his  heart- searching  tones,  there  must  have  been  felt  an  extraordi- 
nary power  ;  and  they  who  saw  and  heard  him  saw  and  heard  (in 
the  only  way  in  which  he  can  be  seen  and  heard)  God,  the  Invisi- 
ble and  Unknown. 

Sui-ely  there  can  be  no  difficulty  in  understanding  this  effect  of 
the  person  of  Jesus.  Have  we  not  caught  some  glimpse  of  the 
same  Divinity  in  the  countenance  or  the  voice  of  a  revered  friend"? 
Now  I  consider  that  the  suffering  woman,  who  believed  that  she 
would  be  healed  by  touching  the  clothes  of  Jesus,  had  felt  the  in- 
definable power  of  his  personal  presence.  It  had  wrought  upon 
her  only  perhaps  through  the  expression  of  his  countenance,  and 
beholding  in  him  that  which  is  of  God,  the  deepest  sentiment  of 
which  she  or  any  human  being  is  capable  was  awakened  into  life 
and  activity,  the  religious  sentiment,  whose  object  is  God,  just  as 
food  is  the  object  of  hunger.  It  was  this  fountain  of  life  that  was 
opened  in  the  heart  of  the  woman  when  she  saw  and  heard  Jesus  ; 
touching  his  person  was  to  her  at  the  instant  as  if  she  touched 


NOTES.  803 

God,  and  such  a  flood  of  life-giving  emotion  gushed  up  within 
her,  that  a  mysterious  healing  energy  went  through  her  wasting 
frame,  and  immediately  the  issue  of  blood  ceased.  Do  we  not  all 
know  how  bodily  pain  and  disease  will  vanish  before  mental 
emotions  not  to  be  compared  in  depth  and  power  with  that  feeling 
which  woke  in  the  woman  when  she  caught  in  Jesus  a  glimpse 
of  the  Highest,  a  vision  of  God  ? 

Note  I.  p.  114. 

"  You  are  past  forgiveness ;  for  you  cannot  he  changed  that  you  may 
beforgiven^  if  the  acknowledged  power  of  God  cannot  move  you.  You 
might  speak  against  me,  a  man,  and  be  forgiven  ;  but  when  you  speak 
thus  against  God  himself  it  is  unpardonable.  There  is  no  ?iope  of  you 
now  or  ever.'"'  Such  I  conceive  to  be  substantially  the  meaning 
of  that  passage  which  has  filled  so  many  minds  with  terror :  "  All 
manner  of  sin  and  blasphemy  shall  (will)  be  forgiven  unto  men, 
but  the  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  (will)  not  be  for- 
given unto  men.  And  whosoever  speaketh  a  word  against  the  Son 
of  man,  it  shall  (will)  be  forgiven  him  :  but  whosoever  speaketh 
against  the  Holy  Ghost,  it  shall  (will)  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither 
in  this  world,  neither  in  the  world  to  come."  (Matt.  xii.  31,  32.) 
I  take  this,  as  I  have  explained  it,  as  the  language  of  the  very 
deepest  emotion.  The  depravity  of  the  Pharisees  stirred  the  de- 
vout mind  of  Jesus,  and  as  they  seemed  to  be  incorrigible,  he 
pronounced  them  unpardonable.  That  he  was  thus  moved,  may 
be  inferred  from  the  very  form  of  these  awful  sentences.  Univer- 
sal, unqualified  terms  constitute  the  very  language  of  passion. 
To  adduce  a  familiar  instance,  how  natural  is  it,  when  we  find 
ourselves  deceived  in  another,  in  whom  we  reposed  entire  confi- 
dence, to  exclaim,  "  There  is  no  truth  in  man."  Is  such  an  excla- 
mation, although  expressed  in  the  cold  form  of  a  universal  prop- 
osition, to  be  taken  without  qualification  as  a  deliberate  statement 
of  our  belief?  Surely  not.  It  is  to  be  understood,  not  as  a  logi- 
cal conclusion,  but  as  a  burst  of  emotion,  which  has  for  the  time 
hidden  from  the  mind  every  thing  but  the  one  fact  that  produced 
it.     It  is  of  course  to  be  received  with  considerable  abatement. 


304  NOTES. 

So  in  the  case  under  consideration.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  sup- 
pose that  Jesus  is  here  calmly  teaching  that  there  is  a  sin,  which, 
although  repented  of,  will  not  be  forgiven.  His  language  is  no' 
to  be  taken  to  the  letter.  It  is  to  be  understood  as  the  expression 
of  his  deep  sense  of  the  depravity  of  those  objectors.  He  did  not 
dogmatize ;  we  miss  his  meaning  when  we  lose  sight  of  the  fact 
that  he  spoke  out  of  a  full  heart,  and  of  course  popularly,  as  it  is 
usual  for  men  to  speak  under  like  circumstances.  By  attending 
to  this  consideration,  than  which  I  know  of  none  that  will 
more  effectually  help  us  to  catch  the  life  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment history,  we  shall  discover  quite  a  new  power  in  many  of 
those  utterances  of  his  which  are  wont  to  be  regarded  as  formal 
statements  of  articles  of  faith.  This  remark  admits  of  abundant 
illustrations. 

Note  J.  p.  120. 

"  No  one  could  understand  him,  unless  he  was  inspired  by  the  same 
spirit  with  himself.'^  Such  I  conceive  to  be  the  meaning  of  the 
words :  "  No  man  can  come  to  me,  except  the  Father  who  hath 
sent  me  draw  Am."  (John  vi.  44.)  By  emphasizing  the  words  I 
have  italicized,  the  true  sense  will  be  more  apparent.  On  the  oc- 
casion when  Jesus  said  this,  it  was  not  to  his  purpose  to  teach, 
that,  in  order  to  come  to  him,  i.  e.  to  receive  his  teachings,  a  man 
must  be  the  subject  of  some  new  and  miraculous  influence  from 
heaven  ;  but  he  simply  affirms,  what  is  sacredly  and  unchangeably 
true,  that,  to  appreciate  truth,  one  must  be  inspired,  drawn,  by  the 
Spirit  of  truth,  that  the  hearer  must  be  attracted  to  the  teacher  by 
the  same  love  of  truth  that  animates  the  teacher.  And  this 
moving  spirit,  though  familiarly  called  the  love  of  truth,  or  the 
desire  of  truth,  — is  it  not  rightly  spoken  of  as  "  the  drawing  "  of 
the  soul  to  the  truth  by  the  power  of  God  1 

Note  K.  p.  124. 

Eminent  interpreters  of  the  New  Testament,  Erasmus,  Rosen- 
ratiller,  Schmidt,  Kuinoel,  and  others,  consider  that  portion  of  the 


NOTES.  305 

third  chapter  of  John  contained  between  the  16th  and  21st  ver- 
ses inclusive,  to  be  the  words,  not  of  Jesus,  but  of  the  Evan- 
gelist, who,  after  giving  a  brief  account  of  the  conversation  with 
Nicodemus,  goes  on  to  enlarge  upon  the  topics  suggested,  a  prac- 
tice not  unusual  with  him.  The  close  of  this  same  chapter  is  evi- 
dently of  this  description,  a  comment  of  the  Evangelist.  That 
such  is  the  character  of  these  passages,  the  intelligent  student  of  this 
Gospel  needs  only  to  have  his  attention  called  to  it  to  perceive. 
The  style  is  the  style  of  John's  Epistles,  not  the  style  of  Jesus. 
And  yet  the  16th  verse,  '•'•  For  God  so  loved  the  loorld,  that  he  gave 
his  only  begotten  Son,^^  &c.,  has  recently  been  quoted  again  and 
again  as  the  words  of  Christ  himself,  to  prove,  by  the  authority  of 
Christ,  an  undefined  peculiarity  in  his  nature,  and  a  speciality  in 
his  mission,  which,  though  designed  to  exalt  both  the  one  and  the 
other,  have  the  effect  to  remove  Christianity  from  the  foun- 
dation on  which  it  rests,  the  more  clearly  it  is  seen,  not  in  con- 
trast and  opposition,  but  in  harmony  with  Nature.  The  epithet 
"  only  begotten  "  was  never  used  by  Christ.  It  has  the  savor  of 
the  Alexandrine  philosophers.  Was  it  not  one  of  their  chosen 
terms  ? 

NoteL.  p.  137. 

"  If  those  are  called  gods,  in  the  Scripture,  against  ichom  — ■  "  the 
common  reading  is,  "to  whom  the  word  of  God  came,"  &c.  The 
original  admits  of  either.  I  prefer  the  former,  not  only  because 
it  gives  increased  force  to  the  appeal  of  Jesus,  but  also  because 
the  eighty-second  Psalm,  to  which  reference  is  made,  is  addressed 
to  unjust  judges. 

Note  M.  p.  176. 

"  Nevertheless,  asked  Jesus,  ivhen  the  Messiah  comes,  icill  he  find 
people  ready  to  receive  him  ?  "  I  have  thus  paraphrased  Luke  xviii. 
8,  "Nevertheless,  when  the  Son  of  Man  cometh,  will  he  find 
faith  on  the  earth  ? "  This  passage,  with  others,  is  commonly  under- 
stood to  refer  to  a  second  coming  of  Christ,  whereas  the  reference 
27 


306  NOTES. 

is,  as  alittle  consideration  shows,  to  the  then  expected  appearance  of 
the  Messiah.  Although  Jesus  was  believed  bv  his  disciples  to  be 
that  personage,  and  an  impression  to  the  like  effect  was  spreading 
among  the  people,  yet  he  was  not  considered  as  having  come. 
The  great  event  which  the  Jewish  nation  Avas  looking  for,  the 
Coming  of  the  Christ,  was  not  considered  to  have  taken  place.  It 
was  yet  in  the  future.  Jesus  spoke  of  it  as  close  at  hand.  "  The 
Messiah  —  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  —  is  coming.  It  is  very  near." 
Such  was  the  great  fact  he  announced.  "  When  the  Man  whom 
you  are  all  so  impatiently  expecting  shall  make  his  appearance, 
will  he  find  people  ready  to  believe  in  him  ?  " 

That  the  reader  may  the  better  enter  into  the  circumstances 
and  spirit  of  the  time  and  place,  to  the  expositions  already  given 
I  add  the  following. 

As  we  read  in  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  Luke,  Jesus  was  once 
invited,  with  many  other  guests,  by  one  of  the  chief  Pharisees,  to 
an  entertainment,  given,  by  the  way,  on  the  Sabbath.  The  Phari- 
sees, pious  as  they  were,  seem  from  this  circumstance  to  have  had 
notions  of  the  Sabbath  somewhat  different  from  those  prevailing 
among  the  religious  of  the  present  day.  Here  was  what  may  be 
considered  a  dinner-party  given  by  a  distinguished  Pharisee  on  the 
Sabbath  ;  and  the  Pharisees  were  the  pattern  saints  of  that  time. 

But  passing  this  by,  although  it  is  well  worth  noting,  mark 
what  took  place  on  the  occasion. 

It  is  but  natural  to  suppose  that  most  of  the  guests  went  to  the 
Pharisee's  house  that  day  with  a  good  deal  of  curiosity  about  the 
extraordinary  man  who  was  to  be  present,  and  who  was  creating 
such  a  sensation. 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  talk  and  feeling  at  the  time  upon  one 
exciting  topic,  "  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,"  then  supposed  to  be 
at  hand,  a  renovated  condition  of  things  to  be  brought  about  by 
the  special  agency  of  Heaven.  A  great  prince  was  to  appear,  so 
it  was  believed,  wise,  holy,  invincible.  He  was  to  break  the  Ro- 
man yoke  and  exalt  the  nation  to  an  unprecedented  prosperity. 

The  excitement  which  this  prospect  caused  had  been  not  a 
little  increased,  first  by  that  strange  figure  clad  in  camel's  hair, 
that  had  suddenly  appeared  in  the  desert  near  the  Jordan,  crying 


NOTES.  307 

aloud  that  the  kingdom  was  coming,  and  next  by  this  wonderful 
person  from  Nazareth  who  Avas  going  about  everywhere  proclaim- 
ing the  same  thing,  and  accompanying  the  proclamation  with 
words  and  works  of  unheard-of  power.  So  Avonderful  was  he, 
that  the  people  flocked  to  see  and  hear  him  ;  some  beginning  to 
surmise,  notwithstanding  the  obscurity  of  his  origin,  the  plainness 
of  his  dress,  and  the  entire  absence  of  all  visible  signs  of  author- 
ity, that  he  was  himself  the  very  prince  that  was  looked  for ;  and 
all  curious  to  hear  what  he  had  to  say  about  "  the  kingdom" 
whose  approach  he  announced.  But  he  talked  about  it  in  a  very 
strange  way.  He  did  not  say  what  it  was  expected  he  would  say. 
Nobody  understood  him.  Nearly  every  thing  he  had  to  tell,  he 
told  in  the  shape  of  some  simple  story,  that  was  perceived  to  have 
a  meaning  which  did  not  at  first  appear.  And  so  curiosity  was 
only  the  more  stimulated. 

At  the  table  of  the  rich  Pharisee,  one  of  the  company,  full  of 
the  hope  of  the  coming  kingdom,  and  desirous,  possibly,  of  draw- 
ing Jesus  out,  uttered  an  exclamation  to  the  effect  that,  pleasant  as 
was  the  feasting  then,  it  would  be  pleasanter  far  when  the  Messiah 
should  have  come  and  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  should  be  estab- 
lished. Then  under  the  glorious  reign  of  the  Messiah  it  would 
be  a  happiness  indeed.  "  You  think  it  will  be  a  very  hap- 
py thing,  do  you  1 "  was  the  virtual  reply  of  Jesus,  "  to  feast  im- 
der  the  new  kingdom.  Let  me  tell  you  what  that  kingdom  is 
like.  It  is  like  a  grand  entertainment  which  a  man  made,  and 
to  which  he  invited  many.  And  when  all  was  ready,  he  sent  his 
servants  to  summon  those  who  were  invited.  But,  so  far  from 
esteeming  it  a  privilege,  they  unanimously  begged  to  be  excused. 
They  had  other  things  to  attend  to,  they  pleaded,  and  could  not 
possibly  come.  Upon  this,  the  giver  of  the  feast  became  indig- 
nant, and  told  his  servants  to  go  out  and  bring  in  all  the  misera- 
ble wretches  they  could  pick  up  in  the  streets,  the  poor,  the  lame, 
and  the  blind,  and  compel  them  to  come  ;  and  he  declared  that 
none  of  those  who  had  been  invited  should  taste  of  his  supper." 

It  is  easy  to  picture  to  one's  self  the  curious  and  perplexed  looks 
which  the  company  exchanged  upon  hearing  this  story.  That 
the  coming  kingdom  should  be  compared  to  a  great  banquet  — 


308  NOTES." 

that  they  could  all  readily  understand.  Tor  the  kingdom  of 
Heaven  —  was  it  not  to  abound  in  sumptuous  apparel  and  ample 
mansions,  and  in  all  that  could  gmtify  the  senses  1  But  how  those, 
for  Avhom  the  festival  was  particularly  prepared,  could  decline  the 
invitation,  and  excuse  themselves  from  accepting  it,  they  could 
not  understand.     Here  was  the  mystery. 

And  yet  the  solution  was  at  hand.  That  very  company  illus- 
trated the  truth  of  the  parable.  For  them,  descendants  of  Abra- 
ham, possessors  of  the  Ancient  Law,  believers  in  the  One  Invisible, 
the  feast  was  specially  designed.  Their  advantages  constituted 
the  invitation.  They  w^re  the  chosen  guests.  And  now  the  ser- 
vant of  Him  who  had  prepared  the  supper  had  come  and  was 
waiting  their  attendance.  But  so  far  from  receiving  the  invita- 
tion joyfully,  they  were  all  excusing  themselves.  They  questioned 
the  credentials  of  the  messenger.  They  were  busy  with  their 
families  and  their  bargains.  And  it  was  only  the  poorest  and 
most  miserable  who  came,  and  they  were  in  a  manner  "  com- 
pelled to  come  in,"  by  the  extremity  of  their  misery. 

The  truth  was,  the  rich  and  honorable,  who,  from  their  position 
and  culture,  seemed  to  be  the  elect  company,  had  quite  mistaken 
the  nature  of  the  coming  kingdom,  the  great  Supper.  They 
were  expecting  a  feast  indeed,  but  a  feast  of  sensual  delights.  It 
was  to  gratify  the  appetite  for  pomp,  their  national  pride  and  am- 
bition. They  thought  the  servant  who  should  come  to  announce 
that  all  was  ready,  would  come  in  gorgeous  array,  and  with  im- 
posing circumstances.  With  these  expectations,  how  could  they 
recognize  the  servant  of  their  Host  in  the  obscure  person  who  was 
telling  them  this  story  1  He  had  none  of  the  signs  of  authority 
they  looked  for.  And  to  what  was  he  inviting  them  "?  To  a 
grand  Supper  1  Why,  poor  himself,  he  represented  poverty  and 
persecution  as  occasions  of  great  gladness.  He  told  those  who 
were  disposed  to  listen  to  him  that  they  must  make  up  their  minds 
to  all  sorts  of  privations  and  a  violent  death.  No  wonder  they 
begged  to  be  excused. 

Some,  however,  like  the  lame  and  the  blind  in  the  pai-able,  were 
compelled  by  their  conscious  need  to  listen  to  Jesus  ;  and  there 
was  that  in  his  voice  and  his  look  that  fixed  their  attention,  and 


NOTES.  309 

they  soon  found  that  it  was  indeed  a  feast  to  which  he  invit- 
ed them.  They  were  brought  to  an  inspiring  perception  of  Truth, 
Truth  at  once  very  simple  and  very  grand.  They  learned  from 
him  to  recognize  the  supremacy  of  Right.  He  breathed  into  them 
a  love  of  God  and  man  so  earnest,  that  all  concern  for  themselves 
was  lost  in  the  divine  flame.  Such  delight  did  they  soon  learn  to 
take  in  serving  God  and  their  fellow-man  that  it  was  with  them 
as  if  they  were  sharing  in  a  magnificent  Festival,  in  company 
with  patriarchs  and  prophets,  the  faithful  servants  of  Truth  of  ail 
ages  and  countries.  Their  inmost  sense  was  ravished  with  se- 
raphic harmonies  ;  while  the  rich  and  great,  strangers  to  these  di- 
vine satisfactions,  tasted  not  of  the  great  Supper. 

Note  N.  p.  188. 

Martha  went  and  told  Mary  that  Jesus  had  come  and  had  asked 
for  her.  But  it  is  not  mentioned  in  the  record  that  Jesus  had 
inquired  for  Mary.  He  may  have  done  so.  But  even  if  he  had 
said  nothing  about  her  sister  to  Martha,  how  natural  is  it  that 
Martha  should  go  and  tell  Mary  that  Jesus  wanted  her.  It  is  evi- 
dent from  the  convei-sation  that  passed  between  Jesus  and  Mar- 
tha, that  she  could  not  appreciate  what  he  said.  It  was  too  high 
or  too  deep.  She  could  not  talk  with  him  ;  but  she  knew  how 
her  sister  always  drank  in  his  words.  She  perceived  that  Mary 
was  wanted  there  to  understand  what  he  was  saying. 

How  wonderfully  is  the  narrative  of  the  raising  of  Lazarus 
pervaded  with  the  very  life-breath  of  Truth !  How  admirably 
consistent  with  itself  is  the  character  of  every  one  of  the  actors 
in  the  scene ! 


Note  0.  p.  229. 

"  In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions :  if  it  tvere  not  so,  I 
would  have  told  you."  Of  all  the  recorded  sayings  of  Jesus,  this 
comes  nearest  to  a  formal  assertion  of  a  future  life.  He  is  represent- 
ed, and  truly,  as  the  Revealer  of  a  life  to  come.  He  brought  life 
and  immortality  to  light.    But  then  he  has  nowhere  deliberately 

27* 


310  NOTES. 

declared  the  truth  of  a  future  existence.  He  assumes  it.  He 
takes  it  throughout  for  granted.  He  does  not  dogmatize  nor 
argue.  The  idea  of  immortality  is  implied  in  all  his  teachings. 
He  appears  no  more  to  imagine  that  it  requires  proof,  than  to 
think  of  demonstrating  the  existence  of  God.  Had  there  been  no 
higher  life  than  this  outward  and  perishable  one,  he,  who  in  all 
his  intercourse  with  his  disciples  had  been  so  true  —  truth  itself, 
and  had  inspired  them  with  such  perfect  confidence,  would  cer- 
tainly have  told  them.  He  knew,  for  he  was  conscious  of  it  in 
himself,  that  there  was  a  higher  and  more  enduring  life,  nay, 
that  there  was  not  one  other,  but  many  other  conditions  of  ex- 
istence, "  many  mansions,"  in  his  Father's  house.  They  were 
so  real  to  him,  so  obvious,  that  he  would  have  thought  of  affirming 
that  the  sun  shines,  just  as  soon  as  that  man  is  to  inhabit  other 
mansions  besides  this  perishing  tenement  of  clay.  Here  only, 
in  the  text  quoted  above,  is  there  an  approach  to  any  thing  like 
a  formal  announcement  of  other  modes  of  being.  And  this  he 
was  induced  to  make  because  at  that  moment  the  grief  of  his 
disciples,  at  the  prospect  of  being  parted  from  him,  was  so  great, 
that  it  seemed  to  him  they  had  lost  sight  of  what  was  to  him  a 
most  obvious  truth,  and  a  truth  which,  if  they  had  not  forgotten 
it,  would  have  forbidden  such  overwhelming  sorrow. 


Note  P.  p.  230. 

••  As  you  love  me,  observe  ichat  I  have  commanded  you,  and  I  loill 
pray  the  Father,  and  he  loill  send  another  to  comfort  you  in  my  place, 
who  will  never  he  parted  from  you,  but  remain  ivith  you  always:  the 
True  Spirit,  to  which  the  icorld  is  a  stranger,  but  you  know  that  spirit, 
for  it  is  in  you  now,  and  it  will  continue  ivith  you."  So  do  I  para- 
phrase John  xiv.  15,  16,  17,  which  see. 

I  do  not  know  whether,  in  any  instance,  the  disposition  to 
fabricate  dogmas  and  sophisticate  the  simplicity  of  truth  has  been 
more  strikingly  shown,  than  in  reference  to  what  Christ  in  his 
last  conversation  with  his  disciples  said  about  the  Comforter.  It 
was  no  occasion  for  the  expounding  or  announcing  of  dogmas. 
Accordingly  those  last  communications  of  his  seem  to  me  to  be 


NOTES.  *  311 

marked  by  the  simplicity  of  deep  feeling.  The  work  of  the  mys- 
tics has  been  very  considerably  favored  by  the  use  of  the  word 
Ghost  for  Spirit,  a  word  that,  even  when  it  does  not  directly  con- 
vey the  idea  of  a  person,  creates  the  impression  of  something 
more  than  is  popularly  understood  by  a  state  of  mind. 

Happily  for  very  simple  and  rational  views  of  his  meaning, 
Christ  has  himself  defined  it  with  sufficient  clearness ;  and  if  he  is 
misunderstood,  the  fault  is  not  in  his  language. 

He  meant  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  the  Comforter,  as  he  has  veiy 
distinctly  said,  that  true  spirit  or  disposition,  ichicli  teas  in  his  dis- 
cij^les,  which  had  drawn  them  to  him  at  the  first,  which  had  kept 
them  faithful  to  him,  notwithstanding  their  Jewish  hopes  and  prepos- 
sessions, and  which,  after  his  death,  would  enable  them  to  appre- 
ciate the  moral  truth  and  power  of  that  event  as  they  had  done  of 
his  life,  and  the  presence  of  which  is  in  nothing  more  expressively 
shown  than  in  the  artless  and  honest  narratives  which  have 
come  down  to  us.  An  honest,  truth-loving  spirit  or  temper  of 
mind,  such  as  marks  every  true  man,  every  man  who  speaks,  writes, 
or  acts  a  true  thing,  —  this  and  nothing  more  is,  I  believe,  what 
was  meant  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

This  will  be  considered,  I  am  aware,  a  very  homely  definition 
of  that  mystic  agency.  But  so  far  as  the  spirit  is  exemplified  in 
the  Apostles,  it  is  shown  to  be  simply  Avhat  I  have  described  :  the 
spirit  that  moves  to  every  good  word  and  work.  I  look  in  vain 
in  their  writings  and  acts  for  the  traces  of  any  peculiar  spiritual 
influence  or  state,  peculiar,  I  mean,  in  kind.  They  were  men  of 
rare  honesty  and  truthfulness.  In  order  to  account  for  the  power 
they  manifested,  I  find  no  necessity  for  resorting  to  the  supposi- 
tion that  they  were  the  subjects  of  a  peculiar  spiritual  influence. 
Their  devoted  aff'ection  for  truth,  which  it  is  disparaging  the  per- 
sonal influence  of  Christ  to  suppose  it  required  any  thing  more 
than  that  to  awaken  and  perfect,  in  fine,  their  natural  human  ear- 
nestness, did  their  great  work  for  them. 

That  the  simple  native  love  of  truth  should  have  been  repre- 
sented by  Christ  as  the  Comforter  is  very  natural,  Avhen  we  take 
into  view  the  circumstances.  His  disciples  were  plunged  in  the 
deepest  grief    Their  one  great  need  at  that  time  was  Comfort. 


312  NOTES. 

Jesus  himself  was  seeking  then  in  all  ways  to  meet  this  want.  He 
was  then  their  Comforter.  How  natural  was  it  for  him  to  repre- 
sent as  another  Comforter  that  spirit  of  mind  which  distinguished 
them  so  strikingly,  which  had  induced  them  to  adhere  to  him  so 
faithfully,  which,  although  they  were  not  aware  of  it,  was  never- 
theless, as  it  always  is,  the  gift  and  inspiration  of  the  Eternal  Fa- 
ther, and  which  would  be  to  them,  as  it  had  been,  and  as  it  is  in 
the  eternal  truth  of  things,  the  source  of  all  light  and  consolation. 
That  the  Apostles  after  Jesus  should  have  dwelt  with  great 
emphasis  on  the  spirit,  that  it  was,  in  their  estimation,  holy,  divine, 
is  not  difficult  to  understand  when  it  is  considered, 

1 .  That  the  pure  consciousness  of  truth  brings  with  it  a  sense 
of  the  highest  power.  Nothing  reveals  power  so  fully  as  the  con- 
scious force  of  truth.  There  are  very  vague  notions  of  truth.  A 
man  has  not  experience  of  the  true  spirit  of  mind  merely  because 
he  thinks  he  has  it.  He  may  be  self-deceived.  And  then  it  is 
not  in  nature  that  error,  falsehood,  delusion,  should  create  the  sen- 
timent of  power,  which  springs  only  from  truth.  But  when  the 
mind  is  really  true,  there  comes  a  sense  of  power  which  is  the 
knowledge  of  God.    And, 

2.  That  in  no  one  respect  did  Christianity  stand  out  in  bolder 
contrast  with  all  other  religions  than  in  its  inward  character.  All 
others  came  with  observation.  This  was  an  unseen  influence. 
All  other  religions  were  identified  with  sacrifices,  temples,  and 
a  visible  ceremonial.  Christianity  ascribed  the  first  importance 
to  a  disposition  of  mind.  It  went  behind  the  visible  and  called 
into  action  an  invisible  principle,  not  supernatural,  yet  essentially 
divine ;  as  old  as  the  human  heart,  yet  new  in  the  supremacy 
which  was  now  demanded  for  it  as  the  central,  moving  power. 
Religion  in  every  other  shape  was  formal.  Especially  was  this 
the  case  with  that  form  of  it,  Judaism,  with  which  Christianity 
had  first  to  contend.  In  the  language  of  Paul,  the  one  was  the 
flesh,  the  other  the  spirit.  Christianity,  passing  by  externals,  went 
straight  to  that  invisible  nature  and  force  in  man,  which  finds 
among  material  forces  its  most  appropriate,  though  still  an  in- 
adequate, symbol  in  the  breathy  air,  spiritiis,  jinZua. 

It  is  the  distinction  of  True  Religion  that  it  is  profoundly  natu- 


NOTES.  313 

ral.  It  is  the  central  truth  of  things,  and  as  such  accords  with 
all  nature.  Hence  we  can  in  no  better  way  illustrate  it,  than  by 
showing  how,  in  all  its  principles  and  details,  it  harmonizes  with 
nature.  But  it  seems  all  but  impossible  that  the  minds  of  men 
should  ever  be  divested  of  the  impression  that  Christianity,  as  a 
Divine  Religion,  must  have  something  strange  and  out  of  the  way 
in  it.  Jesus  spoke  of  the  spirit  of  truth,  that  disposition  of  mind 
which  prompts  one  to  desire  to  see  things  just  as  they  are.  He 
told  those  simple  men  around  him  that  this  spirit  was  in  them, 
that  it  was  holy,  and  that,  as  it  grew  stronger,  it  would  be  their 
comforter  and  interpreter.  And  they  found  it  so.  But  when 
this  spirit  was  quenched,  when  Christians  came  to  be  actuated  by 
a  worldly,  selfish  spirit,  when  they  had  no  longer  in  their  own 
minds  and  experience  a  key  to  the  description  which  Christ 
has  given  of  the  Spirit,  then  his  language  was  misinterpreted  and 
the  Spirit  was  deified,  erected  into  a  divine  person,  made  an  object 
of  worship.  So  it  is  to  this  day.  And  even  those  who  have  now 
renounced  the  personality  of  the  Holy  Ghost  supply  its  place  with 
a  peculiar  and  mystical  influence,  the  influence  of  the  Spirit, 
something  apart  and  different  from  the  divine  force  and  love  of 
Truth,  and  operating  in  special  and  extraordinary  ways. 

Christianity  is  emphatically  the  Religion  of  Reform.  Its  office 
is  to  agitate  and  revolutionize  the  world,  to  enter,  pacifically  in- 
deed, but  without  hesitation  or  fear,  into  the  thick  of  the  battle 
with  sin,  whether  lurking  in  the  private  heart,  or  intrenched  be- 
hind social  forms  and  institutions.  When  it  ceases  to  be  thus 
employed,  its  friends  and  advocates,  needing  occupation  for  their 
religious  sensibilities,  food  for  their  zeal,  seek  it  in  magnifying 
dogmas  and  abstractions,  and  grow  warm  for  modes  of  thought, 
which  are  barren  of  all  fruits. 


Note  Q.  p.  253. 

"  Calling  to  them  to  look  at  the  man,"  &c.  The  priests  had 
brought  Jesus  before  the  Roman  governor,  on  the  charge  of  being 
a  seditious  person,  a  disturber  of  the  public  peace.  The  whole 
manner  and  appearance  of  the  accused,  so  quiet  and  inoffensive. 


814  NOTES. 

the  miserable  figure  thcat  he  presented  in  the  old  purple  robe  and 
mock  crown,  showed  how  idle  the  accusation  was.  "  Only  look 
at  him !  "  exclaimed  Pilate,  as  if  to  look  at  him  were  enough  to 
satisfy  one  of  his  innocence. 

Note  R.  p.  272. 

"  Tliat  their  legs  should  he  brolcen."  In  addition  to  what  I  have 
said  in  explanation  of  this  clause,  I  suggest  whether  this  be  not 
one  of  those  circumlocutions  to  Avhich  we  resort  in  order  to  avoid 
calling  ugly  things  by  their  right  names.  Even  the  most  de- 
praved, habitual  thieves  do  not  like  to  give  their  occupation  its  plain 
title.  They  have  a  language  of  their  own.  It  is  a  way  we  all 
have  of  cloaking  the  ugliness  of  sin.  The  Jewish  priests  shrunk 
from  asking  outright,  in  just  so  many  words,  that  the  crucified 
might  be  "  killed."  It  might  have  awakened  uncomfortable  mis- 
givings as  to  the  nature  of  the  deed  they  had  been  active  in  com- 
mitting. J3ad  as  they  were,  they  did  what  little  they  could  to 
hide  from  themselves  the  final  and  murderous  blow  under  a  more 
innocent-sounding  phrase.  How  well  did  the  great  Poet  under- 
stand our  nature  in  this  respect  as  in  so  many  others  ! 

Paul.    If,  one  by  one,  you  wedded  all  the  world, 

Or,  from  all  that  are,  look  something  good 

To  make  a  perfect  woman,  she  you  killed 

Would  be  unparalleled. 
Leon.  I  think  so.     Killed! 

She  I  killed  .'    I  did  so  ;  but  thou  strikest  me 

Sorely  to  say  I  did  ;  it  is  as  bitter 

Upon  thy  tongue,  as  in  my  thought.    Now,  good,  noio, 

Say  so  but  seldom. 

Winter's  Tale. 

Note  S.  p.  279. 

I  state  on  this  page  that  the  guard,  stationed  at  the  sepulchre, 
were  terrified  and  put  to  flight  by  Jesus  himself,  coming  forth  in 
the  grave-clothes,  and  mistaken  by  them  for  a  supernatural  ap- 
pearance. 

If  we  had  no  account  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  but  Matthew's, 


NOTES.  ■    315 

we  should  be  bound  to  believe,  accepting  his  account  as  true,  that, 
after  the  women  reached  the  Sepulchre,  an  angel  descended  from 
heaven  and  rolled  away  the  stone,  and  while  the  guard  became 
as  dead  men  from  fear,  he  said  to  the  women  :  "  Fear  not  ye,  for 
I  know  that  ye  seek  Jesus  who  was  crucified.  He  is  not  here,  for 
he  is  risen,  as  he  said.  Come,  see  the  place  where  the  Lord  lay," 
&c.  Is  it  not  worthy  of  note,  that,  according  to  this  account,  no 
time  is  alloiced  for  Jesus  to  rise  and  come  forth?  He  must  either 
have  risen  and  left  vacant  the  place  where  he  had  lain,  before  the 
appearance  of  the  angel  and  the  rolling  a^yay  of  the  stone  ;  or 
he  must  have  passed  out  invisibly,  immediately  upon  the  removal 
of  the  stone.  One  or  the  other  of  these  inferences  is  inevitable  ; 
and  they  alike  add  to  the  difl&culties  of  Matthew's  statement,  taken 
alone. 

"  As  the  other  accounts  state  that  when  the  women  reached  the 
place  the  stone  was  already  removed,  I  conclude  that  Matthew's 
account  is  erroneous. 

Again,  Matthew  states  that  Jesus  appeared  first  to  all  the 
women  as  they  were  returning  from  the  tomb.  But  the  other 
Gospels  say  that  he  appeared  first  to  Mary  alone.  Here  is  another 
error  in  Matthew's  narrative.  (For  an  explanation  of  this  error 
see  page  284.) 

But  these  errors,  so  far  from  destroying  the  worth  of  Matthew's 
story,  give  it  quite  a  special  value.  ^  For,  being  just  such  errors  as 
would  naturally  arise  under  the  circumstances,  they  furnish  strong, 
because  undesigned,  testimony  to  the  reality  of  those  circumstan- 
ces, to  the  truth  of  the  facts  which  occasioned  these  mistakes. 
"What  could  be  more  natural  than  that  the  stories  of  the  angel  told 
by  the  guard  and  by  the  women  should  have  got  mixed  together  in 
the  rapidity  with  which  the  startling  events  of  that  morning  fol- 
lowed one  another  ? 

The  exposition  which  I  have  given  of  the  resurrection  of  Je- 
sus claims  attention  for  the  marks  of  truth  and  nature  which  it 
discloses,  interwoven  with  the  whole  texture  of  this  part  of  his 
history.  Indeed,  as  I  view  them,  the  four  stories  of  the  resurrec- 
tion seem  "  not  made  with  hands,"  but  to  have  come  dkectly  from 
the  loom  of  Nature,  —  of  God. 


^  .^..^■_--.    -"  « 


\  V<  4 


\MOcr'  CU'U-^o^^     ruv^  ; '-(^V^vu^^^^,^,^^    /-fc. 


V  5V  s^^w:..  \U'^^    >^-'®^ 


BS2420 .F988 
A  history  of  Jesus 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00075  1273 


